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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29138343">Klance AU Month 2021</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutchveertje/pseuds/dutchveertje'>dutchveertje</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Actor Keith (Voltron), Actor Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Sugar Daddy, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Art Student Keith (Voltron), Artist Keith (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bodyguard Keith (Voltron), Cheerleader Lance (Voltron), Childhood Friends, Coffee Shops, Coming Out, Crushes, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Delinquent Keith (Voltron), Disney World &amp; Disneyland, Established Keith/Lance (Voltron), Established Relationship, First Kiss, First Meetings, Florist Lance (Voltron), Fluff, Forbidden Love, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Gay Keith (Voltron), Getting Together, Ghost Lance (Voltron), Halloween, Implied Sexual Content, Internet, Jock Keith (Voltron), Klance AU Month 2021, Korean Keith (Voltron), Lactose Intolerant Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Has ADHD, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Married Keith/Lance (Voltron), Meet-Cute, Merperson Lance (Voltron), Musician Lance (Voltron), Pining, Pirates, Practice Kissing, Pre-Relationship, Prince Lance (Voltron), Punk Keith (Voltron), Recreational Drug Use, Rich Keith (Voltron), Secret Relationship, Sharing a Bed, Single Parent Keith (Voltron), Single Parent Lance (Voltron), Single Parents, Smitten Keith (Voltron), Soft Keith/Lance (Voltron), Sugar Daddy Keith (Voltron), Summer Camp, Tattoo Artist Keith (Voltron), Tattooed Keith (Voltron), Tattooed Lance (Voltron), Tattoos, Valentine's Day, Witch Keith (Voltron), YouTube, YouTuber Lance (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:34:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>32,999</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29138343</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutchveertje/pseuds/dutchveertje</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>My collection of one-shots for the Klance AU Month 2021</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Keith/Lance (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>175</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Movie</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Ha, take <em>that</em>,” Lance shouted as he claimed victory. He pumped his fist in the air.</p><p>Keith put the controller down with more force than necessary. “You just got lucky,” he grumbled.</p><p>“Aww, don’t be such a pouty puss,” Lance said.</p><p>“I’m not pouting,” Keith grumbled. He almost crossed his arms but thought better of it at the last second.</p><p>“Keith, babe, you’re pouting. But don’t worry, it looks cute.”</p><p>Keith pointedly looked in the other direction. “Whatever. I’ll beat you next time.”</p><p>Lance grabbed Keith’s face with both hands and forced him to look at him. “Keith, sweetheart, I love you, but you can’t play video games for shit.”</p><p>“Fuck you.”</p><p>“Okay, I think we’ve had enough video games for today,” Lance said. He put away both controllers and turned off the console.</p><p>“Fine. But just you wait. One day, I <em>will</em> beat you,” Keith said.</p><p>Lance chuckled. “Sure, you keep telling yourself that.” He paused a second. “Wanna watch a movie?”</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>Lance grabbed the remote and started flipping through the movie selection. “What are you in the mood for?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said.</p><p>“When Harry met Sally?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Annie Hall?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Mean Girls?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Show Me Love?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Clueless?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“10 Things I Hate About You?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Is there anything you <em>do</em> like?” Lance asked.</p><p>Keith looked over at him. “You’re only suggesting romcoms. I’m not watching a romcom.”</p><p>“Okay, first of all, Mean Girls isn’t a romcom. Second, what’s wrong with romcoms?”</p><p>“What’s <em>not</em> wrong with romcoms?” Keith countered.</p><p>Lance gasped dramatically. “Romcoms are great. They allow you to live all your romantic fantasies vicariously through these characters.”</p><p>“Romcoms are mushy, romantic bullshit without any real substance,” Keith said.</p><p>“Well, what do <em>you</em> wanna watch?” Lance asked.</p><p>Keith opened his mouth to answer, but Lance cut him off.</p><p>“And don’t say conspiracy documentaries, ‘cause I’m not watching those,” he said.</p><p>“I watch more than just conspiracy documentaries, you know.”</p><p>“Oh my bad, you also watch cryptid documentaries,” Lance said with a smirk.</p><p>Keith crossed his arms and frowned. If Lance wanted to be a jerk about it, then fine. Two could play at that game.</p><p>“I’m just teasing,” Lance said. “Come on, where’s that smile?” He poked Keith in his side.</p><p>Keith yelped, but couldn’t help but smile. “Jerk,” he said.</p><p>“There it is,” Lance said with a smile. “But seriously, what do you wanna watch?”</p><p>“Sci-fi?”</p><p>“How about we compromise? We watch a romantic sci-fi movie?” Lance suggested.</p><p>Keith thought about it for a moment. “Fine,” he said finally.</p><p>“I’ll look one up.” Lance pulled out his phone. He typed and scrolled and read. “How about this?” he said after a few minutes. “Superintelligence. About an AI who wants to annihilate the human race. I don’t know where the romance comes in, but it says it’s a romantic sci-fi film, so I’ll take their word for it.</p><p>“Sounds good,” Keith said.</p><p>“Oh, wait, nevermind, it has 32 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.”</p><p>“I don’t care, we can laugh at how bad it is together.”</p><p>Lance looked at Keith. “Are you sure?”</p><p>“Yeah, it’ll be fun. I like making fun of bad movies.”</p><p>“Well okay then.” Lance picked up the remote again. A minute later, the film started playing. He leaned back and opened his arms. “Get in here,” he said.</p><p>Keith happily leaned into Lance and felt his arms close around him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The first day and I'm already cheating. It's not a proper Movie AU, but I couldn't think of a good movie to put them into and I didn't have time to spend a long time thinking about it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. College</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith stood before his dorm room. He had never been nervous to go in, except maybe the first time when he didn’t know what to expect from his new roommate. But this time he had a question to ask and it could potentially turn into a really awkward and embarrassing situation.</p><p>He took a deep breath. He had rehearsed this a million times in his head, he could do this.</p><p>He opened the door and found Lance sitting behind his laptop at his desk.</p><p>Lance looked up from his laptop. “Hey,” he greeted before turning back to the screen in front of him.</p><p>“Hey,” Keith said. He silently stared at Lance for a few seconds. “Hey Lance, can I ask you a question?”</p><p>“Of course,” Lance said. He swiveled around in his chair to face Keith.</p><p>Keith’s nerves came back full force. He suddenly forgot everything he rehearsed.</p><p>It must have shown on his face because Lance spoke up. “You know you can ask me anything, right?”</p><p>“Uhhh,” was Keith’s only response. He was about to give up on this whole idea and find someone else when he realized he would have to go through the same process with them.</p><p>“Model?” he blurted out. <em>Stupid brain</em>.</p><p>Lance looked confused. “What?”</p><p>Keith looked at his feet. “Will you model for me?” he asked.</p><p>“Is that it? Or course, no problem.”</p><p>Keith looked up at Lance. “Really?”</p><p>“Yeah, sure, why not?” Lance said. “For what class?”</p><p>“Drawing,” Keith said. “We have to draw a human.”</p><p>When Keith got the assignment, he immediately knew what he wanted to draw. The truth is, he had wanted to draw Lance since he first laid eyes on him. But he didn’t want to seem creepy, so he decided against it. Now he finally had an excuse.</p><p>“Why me?” Lance asked.</p><p><em>Because you’re the most beautiful person I know</em>.</p><p>“Because you’re a friend and it would be less awkward to ask.”</p><p>“And because of my dashing good looks, I’m sure,” Lance teased.</p><p>Keith felt his face heating up. “Something like that,” he mumbled.</p><p>Lance let out a loud laugh. “But yeah, I’ll model for you. Not right now, though, I have work to do,” he said.</p><p>“This assignment isn’t due for a while, so we have time,” Keith said.</p><p>Silence settled over them. Lance went back to work on his laptop. Keith unpacked his backpack and settled on his bed with the book he was currently reading. He would work on homework later, but first, he needed to relax a little.</p><p>After a while, Lance spoke up. “Hey Keith?”</p><p>Keith held up his index finger and Lance waited while he finished the page. Once the page was finished, he looked up. “Yeah?”</p><p>“Will I have to be naked?” Lance asked.</p><p>Naked? What? His confusion must have shown on his face.</p><p>“When I model for you, I mean,” Lance clarified.</p><p>Keith already had a vision and it did not require Lance to be naked, but he decided to mess with Lance a little. “I don’t know, haven’t decided yet,” he said as casually as he could muster.</p><p>“Oh,” Lance said.</p><p>“It would be a good chance to practice male anatomy,” Keith continued. He felt the corners of his mouth tugging up and resisted as hard as he could.</p><p>“Doesn’t the department have classes for that?” Lance asked. “Where a naked person stands in the middle of the room and all the artists sit around them and draw?”</p><p>“Yeah, but it never hurt to practice extra. And those are usually middle-aged women, from what I’ve heard. Plus, I could think of a few poses and angles I wouldn’t get in class,” Keith said. He pressed his lips together.</p><p>Lance squinted at him. Keith averted his eyes to avoid laughing, looking at the book in his lap.</p><p>“You’re fucking with me, aren’t you,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith finally let his smile break through. “Yes, Lance, I’m fucking with you. I won’t make you pose naked. I will ask you to strip down to your underwear, though.”</p><p>“That’s fine.”</p><p>“Would you have said no if I wanted you naked?” Keith couldn’t help but notice how sexual that sounded. He hadn’t meant for it to sound that way. “I mean-”</p><p>Lance cut him off with a laugh. “I know what you mean. But I wouldn’t have said no if you wanted me naked. It’s just nice to know beforehand what to expect. But underpants is fine too.”</p><p>So Lance wasn’t opposed to posing naked? That was interesting. Keith would be lying if he said it didn’t sound appealing. But it was probably better to stick to his original plan. Again, not wanting to be creepy. Still, he filed the information away for future reference.</p>
<hr/><p>The next weekend they both had time. It was a beautiful day, so there would be plenty of natural light coming in through the window.</p><p>“Are we staying here or are we going somewhere?” Lance asked.</p><p>“We’re staying here,” Keith answered.</p><p>“Okay. It would probably be awkward if I was half-naked outside,” Lance said. “Not to mention, illegal.”</p><p>“Why don’t you undress,” Keith said. He busied himself with sorting through his pencils so he didn’t have to look at Lance undressing.</p><p>“How do you want me?” Lance asked.</p><p>Keith looked up and was met with an almost naked Lance in all his glory. His inner gay sighed dreamily. He allowed himself a moment to take all of Lance’s beauty in. It wasn’t the first time he had seen Lance in his underpants, Lance wasn’t shy about changing in front of him, but he usually forced himself to look away in fear of being caught staring.</p><p>He shook his head lightly. He gestured toward Lance’s bed. “On the bed, please. On your back. Just pretend you’re going to sleep.”</p><p>Lance made his way over to his bed and stepped into it. Keith followed him. He extended his hands, but let them fall by his side again a second later.</p><p>“You can touch me,” Lance said. “You’re the only one who knows what you want.”</p><p>Keith extended his hands again and this time let them fall onto Lance’s arms. He adjusted one arm onto Lance’s chest. His fingers brushed against Lance’s chest and he lingered for just a second. He moved the other arm above Lance’s head. “Put your head on your hand,” he said.</p><p>Lance lifted his head and slid his hand under it.</p><p>Keith took a step back to see the full picture. He came back to lift the blanket so he could adjust Lance’s legs. He bent one at the knee and put the blanket back over Lance, just above his hips. Now the outline of his legs was clearly visible through the blanket.</p><p>Keith stepped back again. “Look at me?” he said.</p><p>Lance turned his head. Keith took in the sight and decided this was exactly what he wanted.</p><p>He sat down on his desk chair across from Lance’s bed and grabbed his paper and the right pencil.</p><p>“This is how I usually sleep,” Lance said.</p><p>“I know,” Keith answered. He’s had this vision for a while now. Being an early bird, he usually woke up before Lance. He’s wanted to draw a sleeping Lance for so long but had found it weird to do that.</p><p>He let his gaze sweep over Lance before turning to the paper and starting the drawing.</p><p>After a few minutes, Lance spoke up. “Is this everything you dreamed it would be,” he said with a teasing edge to his words.</p><p>Keith almost made a wrong stroke with his pencil. “What?” he stammered.</p><p>“Be honest, how long have you wanted to draw me?” Lance asked.</p><p>“Uhhh.”</p><p>“Because sometimes you get that look in your eyes that you do when you see something you wanna draw. So, how long?”</p><p>Keith hesitated for a moment. He looked Lance in the eyes and saw an open expression, without judgment. “Since the first time I saw you,” he confessed.</p><p>“I’m flattered. So why haven’t you? Unless you never showed me those drawings.”</p><p>“Because I was afraid you would find it weird and creepy,” Keith said. He looked down at his paper.</p><p>“It’s not weird. At least, not if you don’t make it weird. Like making it super sexual or something,” Lance said.</p><p>“So you wouldn’t have minded?” Keith asked.</p><p>“Nah. But if you need permission, I hereby give you permission to draw me whenever.”</p><p>“Really.” Keith couldn’t believe his ears.</p><p>“Yeah. On one condition. I want to see the drawings when they’re finished,” Lance said with a smile.</p><p>“I show you all my drawings.”</p><p>“Then it should be an easy condition.”</p><p>Keith smiled at him. “Thanks.”</p><p>Lance smiled back. “No problem.”</p><p>Keith continued drawing but couldn’t help the smile on his face.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Celebrity</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance was walking around in downtown LA. It was so hot outside, in the middle of summer.</p><p>In the distance, he saw a man with long-ish black hair. Was that… Keanu Reeves? It couldn’t be, right? Lance took off his sunglasses to be able to see better.</p><p>He kept staring while walking in Maybe Keanu’s direction. Maybe Keanu turned around and caught his eye. At least, Lance thinks he caught his eye, it was hard to tell with the guy’s sunglasses. Lance <em>did</em> notice, however, that Maybe Keanu was clean-shaven, and the last time he saw Keanu in the media he had a beard.</p><p>Now that he was closer, he also noticed that this guy looked young. And cute. And completely within Lance’s age range. The chances of this being Keanu were becoming smaller and smaller.</p><p>“You got a problem?” Probably Not Keanu asked. His tone was hostile. Keanu wouldn’t be hostile, right?</p><p>“No,” Lance said. He was now standing in front of the guy.</p><p>“Then why are you staring at me?” Almost Definitely Not Keanu asked with the same hostility.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I just thought you looked like Keanu Reeves for a second,” Lance admitted.</p><p>“Who?” the guy asked. Okay, so he was definitely not Keanu. Though he did seem to relax a little.</p><p>Lance let out an incredulous gasp. “You don’t know Keanu Reeves? He’s like the internet’s favorite actor. From The Matrix. And John Wick. Among other things.”</p><p>Not Keanu just shrugged and made an I-don’t-know sound.</p><p>Lance pulled out his phone. “I’ll look him up and show you.” He unlocked his phone and Googled Keanu Reeves.</p><p>Not Keanu took off his sunglasses, presumably to look at Lance’s phone, and that’s when Lance saw it. His eyes. He had beautiful eyes. Beautiful <em>monolid</em> eyes.</p><p>Lance looked back at his phone and pulled up a picture of Keanu. Then he showed his phone to Not Keanu.</p><p>“I look nothing like him,” Not Keanu exclaimed.</p><p>“Well…” Lance said.</p><p>“First of all, I’m not white.”</p><p>“I can see that now, but with your sunglasses, it’s hard to tell.”</p><p>“And how old is this guy?”</p><p>“Somewhere in his fifties,” Lance said.</p><p>“He could’ve been my father.”</p><p>“In my defense, when I first saw you, you had your back turned to me. I could only see your hair.”</p><p>Not Keanu looked at the picture again. “Okay, so maybe the hair is kinda similar. But other than that, we look nothing alike.”</p><p>“You’re right, you’re way cuter,” Lance said, testing the waters.</p><p>Not Keanu blushed prettily and started sputtering, but no full sentence came out.</p><p>“Look, I’m sorry I mistook you for a middle-aged white guy. Let me make it up to you,” Lance said.</p><p>“How?” Not Keanu asked. He refused to meet Lance’s eyes for some reason, still blushing.</p><p>“Let me buy you a coffee or something. I can get to know the real you, instead of talking about an actor you don’t know. Plus, it will be airconditioned in there.”</p><p>“Well, I won’t say no to free coffee,” Not Keanu said.</p><p>Lance took it as a victory because he knew from experience that people will absolutely say no to free coffee if they don’t like you. “I’m Lance, by the way,” he said, extending his hand.</p><p>“Keith,” Not Keanu, or Keith apparently, responded, taking his hand and shaking it.</p><p>“Let’s go, my favorite coffee shop is just a few blocks from here,” Lance said and he started walking.</p><p>Keith followed him without question.</p><p>So maybe Lance didn’t get to meet a famous actor. Instead, he got a coffee date with a cute boy. This was way better.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Athlete</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>That was a tough game. But they managed to win, albeit with a slim lead.</p>
<p>Keith wanted to walk to the locker room, but a girl approached him.</p>
<p>“Hey, you looked really good out there,” she said. She looked vaguely familiar. She probably went to school here.</p>
<p>“Thanks,” he said flatly. He knew where this was going and he wanted it to be over already. He couldn’t even manage to look her in the eyes.</p>
<p>“So, I was thinking. Maybe in celebration of your victory, we could get something to eat,” she said.</p>
<p>There it was. “No thank you,” he said, his tone polite but stiff. He made a move to walk past her, but she spoke up again.</p>
<p>“So the rumors are true,” she said.</p>
<p>“What rumors?” he asked.</p>
<p>“That you’re not interested in anyone.”</p>
<p><em>Not true</em>. “Yeah, I guess.”</p>
<p>“Just wait, one of these days a girl is gonna steal your heart.”</p>
<p><em>Doubtful. </em>“We’ll see.”</p>
<p>Keith walked past her in the direction of the locker room. He walked past the cheerleaders. Most of the girls looked at him and whispered among themselves, no doubt having seen what just happened. Keith only had eyes for one of them, though.</p>
<p>Lance. The only male cheerleader on the squad. Keith had been stealing glances during the match. Lance looked so good out there, especially in his uniform.</p>
<p>Lance jogged up to him. “Hey there, handsome,” he greeted.</p>
<p>A while ago, Keith would’ve looked around to make sure no one heard, but now he knew Lance would only say it when no one was around to hear.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Keith responded. He continued walking to the locker room and Lance followed him.</p>
<p>“Another girl asking you out?”</p>
<p>“Yep. It’s annoying.”</p>
<p>“It’s because they don’t know,” Lance said.</p>
<p>“I know. I don’t blame them. I just don’t get it. Everything about me <em>screams</em> antisocial. The only reason they ask me out is because I happen to be the quarterback. I bet most of them don’t even genuinely want to be with me, they just want the status of dating a jock.” Keith felt himself getting wound up.</p>
<p>“So you <em>do</em> blame them,” Lance said.</p>
<p>“I don’t know. I just wish it would stop.”</p>
<p>“There is a way to make it stop.”</p>
<p>Keith looked at Lance and sighed. “I know.”</p>
<p>Lance didn’t push it. They stayed silent until they entered the locker room. A few of the other players were already undressing.</p>
<p>“Hey, Keith,” one of Keith’s teammates, Ryan, said. “We’re gonna celebrate at our usual place. Wanna come?”</p>
<p>“No thank you. I’m just gonna go home and relax,” Keith responded.</p>
<p>Keith and Lance walked over to their stuff to start undressing as well.</p>
<p>Lance leaned in. “Do your plans for tonight include me?” he whispered.</p>
<p>“I was hoping they would,” Keith whispered back.</p>
<p>“Sweet.”</p>
<hr/>
<p>Forty-five minutes later, the two were freshly showered, hair still damp, and standing in Keith’s bedroom.</p>
<p>“Alone at last,” Lance said before moving in to kiss Keith.</p>
<p>Keith eagerly kissed back. He hadn’t been able to do this all day. He pulled Lance closer and moved them over to his bed. Lance’s legs hit the bottom of the bed and the kiss broke when he fell backward. Keith gently came down on top of him, resuming the kiss. He moved his hand to slide it under Lance’s t-shirt.</p>
<p>It wasn’t long before both their tops were off. Their hands roamed over the other’s body. Keith grabbed a handful of Lance’s ass and delighted in the sound that came out of him. Lance wasted no time and grabbed Keith’s ass in return. Keith chuckled.</p>
<p>“What do you say we get comfortable?” he asked.</p>
<p>Getting comfortable meant stripping down to their underpants and getting under the blankets to cuddle. So they did just that.</p>
<p>They held each other close, trading soft kisses and whispering sweet nothings.</p>
<p>“Wanna watch an episode of Star Trek?” Lance asked. They both knew it would probably be more than one.</p>
<p>Keith put on an episode. Lance rested his head on Keith’s chest and watched. Keith, however, wasn’t paying attention. Now that he was no longer distracted by making out with his boyfriend, his mind kept wandering back to what Lance said.</p>
<p><em>There is a way to make it stop</em>.</p>
<p>“Do you think I should come out to the school?” Keith asked about halfway through the episode.</p>
<p>Lance lifted his head from Keith’s chest to look at him. “I think you should do whatever you want. If you’re not ready, that’s fine. There’s no rush,” he said.</p>
<p>“Because I’m sick of sneaking around.”</p>
<p>“Then you could come out and make us public.”</p>
<p>“I’m just scared that the team won’t accept me. You’ve heard the stories. Someone comes out as gay and suddenly everyone is afraid they’ll harass you in the locker room.”</p>
<p>“Well, I’ve been openly bi for a while now, and no one seems to have a problem with that.”</p>
<p>“I guess.”</p>
<p>“And I always think of it this way. If they can’t accept you for who you are, do you really want them in your life?”</p>
<p>“They’re still my team, I can’t exactly avoid them.”</p>
<p>“That’s true. But we won’t be in high school forever. In fact, we’ll only be in high school for a few more months. I think you can handle a few months of not getting along with your team. Not that I think it’ll come to that. I also think we can handle a few more months of dating in secret. Either way, I’ll support whatever decision you make.”</p>
<p>“Thanks,” Keith said sincerely. He pulled Lance’s face closer and gave him a long, slow kiss. “I love you.”</p>
<p>“I love you too,” Lance said with a smile. “Now rewind, we missed a whole bunch.” He put his head back on Keith’s chest.</p>
<p>Keith rewound the episode and they continued watching. At least, Lance did. Keith’s head wasn’t with it. He kept thinking and thinking about what to do.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The next Monday, Keith stood in front of the school building. He had already decided what he was gonna do, but he was kind of dreading it.</p>
<p>“Hey Keith,” he heard behind him. It was Lance, walking up to him.</p>
<p>There were people around them.</p>
<p>“Hey handsome,” Keith replied. He looked around, but no one spared them a second glance.</p>
<p>“Does this mean you’ve made a decision?” Lance asked.</p>
<p>“It does.”</p>
<p>“And have you decided what I think you’ve decided?”</p>
<p>Keith took Lance’s hand and laced their fingers together. “I have.” He tugged Lance along.</p>
<p>They entered the front doors of the school. Keith was afraid that people would take one look at their intertwined hands and everything would change. But nothing happened.</p>
<p>Keith decided to be bold. He leaned closer to Lance and whispered, “I’m gonna kiss you.”</p>
<p>“You don’t have to,” Lance said.</p>
<p>Instead of answering, he pulled Lance down by the back of his neck and pressed their lips together. It was a chaste kiss, just a press of lips, and it only lasted a few seconds, but it still had Keith reeling. Because of the implications.</p>
<p>But again, nothing happened. A few people were looking at them now, but most of them just went on with what they were doing. It was a relief.</p>
<p>A few of Keith’s teammates walked up to them.</p>
<p>“Hey Keith, are you dating Lance?” James asked.</p>
<p>Keith looked at Lance, who gave him an encouraging nod.</p>
<p>“Yes, I am,” Keith answered.</p>
<p>“Congrats,” James said.</p>
<p>“We’ve been dating for a while now,” Keith confessed.</p>
<p>“Well, then congrats on coming out. That’s very brave,” Ryan said.</p>
<p>Keith looked at the ground, but couldn’t help the small smile. “Thanks,” he said.</p>
<p>“I knew you liked someone on the cheer squad. You keep looking at them,” Ryan teased.</p>
<p>Keith felt his face heating up. Was he that obvious? “Yeah,” he said lamely.</p>
<p>They turned to walk away again, presumably to their classes. “See you at practice!” James called. And then they were gone again.</p>
<p>No awkward questions, no accusations, no judgment. Just confirmation that they were dating. That was apparently all that was needed.</p>
<p>Keith felt like crying.</p>
<p>Lance looked at him with concern. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.</p>
<p>“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Keith’s voice was shaky.</p>
<p>Lance let go of Keith’s hand and wrapped his arms around him, pulling Keith against his chest. “I’m so proud of you,” he said.</p>
<p>Keith returned the hug. “I thought it would be a big deal,” he said. His eyes stung with unshed tears.</p>
<p>“And now that it’s not, you don’t know how to deal with that,” Lance filled in. “You were prepared to fight for us, but turns out it’s not needed and that threw you off.”</p>
<p>Keith let out a shuddering breath. “Yeah.”</p>
<p>“It’s okay to cry, you know.”</p>
<p>“But nothing’s wrong.”</p>
<p>“The release of the tension you felt is a perfectly valid reason to cry,” Lance assured him. “Not that you need a reason to cry, but I know you.”</p>
<p>Keith finally allowed the tears to fall. He silently cried into Lance’s shoulder. Lance soothingly rubbed his hand up and down his back.</p>
<p>They stood there long after everyone had gone to class. They were late, but Keith didn’t care.</p>
<p>After Keith had calmed down, he released Lance. “Thank you for being there for me,” he said.</p>
<p>“Of course,” Lance said. He took Keith’s face in his hands and wiped away some of the wetness with his thumbs. “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t stand with you through one of the toughest moments in your life?”</p>
<p>“Still.” Keith hesitated for a moment before standing on his toes to press a kiss to Lance’s lips and saying, “I love you.” He was still kind of amazed that he could just do that whenever he wanted now.</p>
<p>“I love you too.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was supposed to be a lighthearted thing about quarterback Keith rejecting all the girls because he's secretly dating cheerleader Lance, but then it grew a plot and feelings.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Merman</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith arrived at the cave for his daily visit. It’s a cave that can be entered both from land and from the ocean. Keith put down his backpack and took off his t-shirt and shoes, so he was in just his swim trunks. He sat down on the rocky ledge, his legs dangling in the water reaching up to just under his knees. Then he waited.</p><p>He didn’t have to wait long. There was movement in the water that wasn’t from his legs.</p><p>In swam the most beautiful merman Keith had ever seen, Lance. Granted, Lance is the only merman Keith had ever seen, but he doubted there were any merfolk more beautiful than him.</p><p>Lance swam up to Keith without hesitation. He planted his hand on either side of Keith’s legs and lifted himself partly out of the water so his face was just inches from Keith’s. “Keith, I’m so happy to see you!” he exclaimed.</p><p>Keith laughed. “You don’t have to be so loud, I’m right here,” he said. He took Lance’s face in both his hands and leaned forward to press their lips together. He tasted like salt, like he always does. But one day, that will change. Keith broke the kiss and pressed their foreheads together. “But I’m happy to see you too,” he said. “I missed you.”</p><p>Despite having seen each other yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that, and so on. It’s hard being apart when you’re madly in love.</p><p>Lance lowered himself to lean on Keith’s legs, folding his arms over Keith’s thighs and resting his head on top of them. “Talk to me,” he said.</p><p>“I saw Shiro last night. He’s thinking about getting a cat,” Keith started.</p><p>“What’s a cat?” Lance asked.</p><p>“It’s an animal humans like to keep as pets. Here, I’ll show you.” Keith leaned back to wipe his hands on the towel he brought so he could get his phone. He googled ‘cat’ and clicked on images. He showed his phone to Lance.</p><p>Lance squealed in excitement. “They’re so cute! Are they fluffy?”</p><p>“Yes. But be careful, not all cats are cute. Some of them are the devil.”</p><p>“Can you pet them?”</p><p>“Some of them, yes.”</p><p>“I wanna pet one.”</p><p>“Okay. I’ll take you to pet a cat,” Keith said. He smiled and opened the list of things to do once Lance was on land. He added ‘pet a cat.’ The list was getting long. Which reminded him.</p><p>“I spoke to another witch yesterday. She doesn’t do transformations, but she knows someone who does. She said she’d get back to me in a few days,” Keith said.</p><p>“So that’s good news right?” Lance asked.</p><p>“It could be. We’ll just have to wait.” Keith didn’t want to get his hopes up. He’s had his hopes before only to have them crashing down when it didn’t work out. He put his phone away.</p><p>Lance pulled back from his position on Keith’s legs and pushed them apart instead. Keith knew what it meant and scooted closer to the edge. Lance positioned himself between Keith’s legs and wrapped his arms around Keith’s torso. He gently pulled and a second later, Keith was in the water with his chest pressed against Lance’s. Lance held him up effortlessly, so he wrapped his legs around Lance, hooking his ankles together, and draped his arms over Lance’s shoulders. Lance gently twirled them around the pool.</p><p>“Ah, man, I can’t wait to be on land with you,” Lance said. “All the things we’re gonna do, it’s gonna be amazing.”</p><p>Keith smiled at Lance. “I’m looking forward to it,” he said.</p><p>“I want shoes so badly. That’s the first thing we’re gonna do, right? Shoes look like so much fun.”</p><p>“You’re gonna need shoes once you have feet, so yeah, that’s one of the first things we’re gonna do.”</p><p>“Yes!” Lance exclaimed. “And I want to dance with you. Dancing also looks like a lot of fun.”</p><p>“First, you’re gonna need to learn to walk. But once you have that under control, yeah, I’ll take you dancing.” Keith smiled. It was nice seeing Lance so excited about their future together.</p><p>“You’re the most amazing boyfriend a merman could ask for,” Lance said, his voice suddenly a lot softer.</p><p>“And you’re the most amazing boyfriend a human man could ask for,” Keith responded, equally softly.</p><p>They both leaned forward and their lips met. It was passionate and sweet at the same time. They moved together with practiced ease, like they had done so many times before. Keith was vaguely aware when his back hit the wall and Lance pressed him against it. He tightened his grip around Lance’s neck.</p><p>Eventually, they stopped. Keith wasn’t sure when they stopped kissing, but at some point, it had transitioned from kissing to just being in each other’s space. Keith still had his eyes closed, but he could feel Lance’s breath against his lips. He heard Lance sigh.</p><p>“Hopefully soon,” Lance said dejectedly.</p><p>Keith was taken aback by the sadness in Lance’s voice. When had that happened? A minute ago they were passionately making out because they were happy to be together.</p><p>“Come on, we’ve managed this long, we can manage a little longer,” Keith tried to cheer him up.</p><p>“I guess,” Lance said.</p><p>That wasn’t working, so Keith tried something else. “I downloaded a new mermaid movie. We can watch it if you want.”</p><p>Lance perked up at that. “Yes, let’s watch it.” He backed away from the wall and brought Keith with him, swimming over to the edge of the pool.</p><p>Lance didn’t need any more explanation, he rarely did. He liked anything from the human world. And watching mermaid movies was always fun.</p><p>Keith climbed out of the pool with some help from Lance. Then he pulled Lance onto land, careful not to scrape his tail up. He dried his hands and pulled his laptop out of his backpack. Not long after, they were tangled up together, watching another mermaid movie. They had watched all the good ones a long time ago, so only bad ones remained, but they liked it anyway, especially Lance.</p><p>A little over ninety minutes later, the credits rolled over the screen. Keith sat up to stretch himself.</p><p>“So, how was that,” he asked.</p><p>“That was amazing, even though it wasn’t realistic at all,” Lance said.</p><p>“You can’t blame them. Most people have never met a mermaid.”</p><p>“That’s true. But they could ask someone who has.”</p><p>Keith laughed. “If only it were that simple,” he said. He looked at his phone to check the time. “It’s getting late, we should go home.” He packed his stuff while Lance carefully moved back into the water.</p><p>After everything was packed away, he turned around to see Lance leaning with his arms on the edge, looking at him.</p><p>“Were you staring at my butt?” Keith asked accusingly.</p><p>“Maaaybeee.”</p><p>Keith clicked his tongue and shook his head, but a smile showed how serious he was.</p><p>“What? I can’t help it that you have a cute butt,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith shuffled closer to Lance on his knees. “You’re adorable,” he said and he pressed a kiss to Lance’s lips.</p><p>“You’re not so bad yourself,” Lance responded. “I love you.”</p><p>“I love you too.” Keith turned around and put on his t-shirt and shoes. Then he stood up. “See you tomorrow,” he said.</p><p>“One day I will walk out of this cave with you,” Lance said.</p><p>“One day,” Keith said.</p><p>They said that every day. And they will continue to say that. Until eventually, that day arrived.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Pirate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Keith!”</p><p>The door swung open with much too much force. Lance stormed in.</p><p>“Keith!”</p><p>Keith put his book down. “What!” he yelled back, annoyed. He was really into the story.</p><p>Lance stopped. “Oh, were you reading?”</p><p>“<em>Yes</em>,” Keith said.</p><p>“Oh, sorry. But this is important,” Lance said, his excitement returning.</p><p>“What is so important that you have to go screaming through the house?” Keith asked, still annoyed. He put his bookmark in his book and put it on the coffee table. There was no point in trying to read now, not with Lance like this.</p><p>“We’re going to a Halloween party!”</p><p>“When?”</p><p>“Tonight.”</p><p>“<em>Tonight?</em>”</p><p>“Yes. Hunk decided to throw a last-minute party.” Lance was bouncing on the spot, practically vibrating with excitement.</p><p>Keith sighed.</p><p>“So while I was out, I picked us up some costumes,” Lance said. He threw a package at Keith.</p><p>Keith caught it and looked at the picture on the packaging. “A pirate?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Why a pirate?”</p><p>“I’ve been reading a lot about badass pirates the last few days. So I got pirates on the brain. And pirates are cool,” Lance said.</p><p>“Are you also going as a pirate?” Keith asked, but he has a feeling he knew what the answer was.</p><p>“Yes. We’ll be matching.” Lance grinned widely.</p><p>“Lance, I don’t want to go to a Halloween party,” Keith said.</p><p>Lance walked over to Keith and climbed in his lap, straddling him. He put his arms around Keith’s neck. “Please, do it for me,” he pleaded.</p><p>Keith put his hands on Lance’s thighs. “You know I don’t like parties.”</p><p>“It will be a small party, just some friends. You will know everyone there, I think. And you can bring your book and go upstairs if it becomes too much.”</p><p>Keith sighed. “Lance…”</p><p>Lance leaned forward and brought his mouth closer to Keith’s ear. “If you come with me, tonight I’ll do that thing that you like,” he whispered in a husky voice.</p><p>Keith had to admit, that did sound appealing. He contemplated for a few seconds. “Deal,” he said eventually.</p><p>“Yes!” Lance exclaimed. He had a cocky smirk on his face. “That always works.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, but it better be good,” Keith said.</p><p>“When is it <em>not</em> good?” Lance said.</p><p>Keith rolled his eyes, even though Lance was right.</p><p>Lance moved to get off, but Keith stopped him by putting his hands on Lance’s lower back and pulling him closer. Then he moved his hands lower and cupped Lance’s ass.</p><p>“As much as I like where this is going, we have to get ready for the party,” Lance said.</p><p>“What? It’s like 3 pm,” Keith said.</p><p>“Yeah, but I promised Hunk we’d help prepare.”</p><p>“<em>What</em>? And you didn’t think you should discuss this with me?”</p><p>Lance had the decency to look sheepish. “Sorry,” he said.</p><p>Keith narrowed his eyes. “Fine, but you have to do the thing tomorrow too.”</p><p>“Okay, I promise.” Lance pressed his lips to Keith’s.</p><p>Keith tried to lean into the kiss, but Lance was gone before he had the chance. Lance climbed off him and grabbed another package that presumably had his costume in it.</p><p>“Come on, let’s go change,” he said.</p><p>Lance made his way upstairs and Keith followed.</p><p>“I’ve been reading about these badass female pirates,” Lance said as they changed. “About this awesome Chinese woman who started in a brothel and ended up leading one of the most powerful pirate armies of all time. And these two women who disguised themselves as men so they could be captains and fell in love with each other, not knowing the other was a woman.”</p><p>“Where did you read about them?” Keith asked.</p><p>“Tumblr,” Lance said.</p><p>“Lance-” Keith began, but Lance cut him off.</p><p>“I know, it’s not a reliable source of information. But even if they aren’t true, they’re still really cool stories. And I looked it up, and all three women existed. I just don’t know how much of the stories I read is true.”</p><p>Keith finished changing and looked at himself in the full-length mirror. Not bad. Lance had picked out a pretty nice looking pirate costume.</p><p>“So, how do I look?” Lance asked.</p><p>Keith turned around, took one look at Lance, and had to practically pick up his jaw from the floor. Lance was wearing a sinfully short dress, the white skirt falling just past his butt, showing off his long legs. The top of the dress was a black strapless leather-look corset-like thing. The dress had his shoulder exposed, the wide sleeves falling just past his elbows. And to top it all off, he wore a pirate hat and black high-heeled boots.</p><p>“You took inspiration from your lady pirates, I see,” Keith said after he found his voice again.</p><p>“Yep,” Lance said.</p><p>“How you can walk in stiletto heels, I will never understand.”</p><p>“Lots of practice. But how do I look?”</p><p>“You look amazing,” Keith complimented.</p><p>Lance beamed at him. “Thanks. In the immortal words of Cady Haron, Halloween is the one day a year when someone can dress up like a total slut and no one can say anything about it.”</p><p>“But you dress like this all year round. With short skirts and stuff, I mean, not as a pirate.”</p><p>“Well, just because the rest of the year people can say something about it, doesn’t mean I have to care about it. I don’t care what other people say about what I wear.”</p><p>Keith chuckled. “I know. The only downside is that with those high heels, you’re suddenly a lot taller than me.”</p><p>“I’m always taller than you,” Lance said.</p><p>“Yes, but not that much,” Keith protested.</p><p>Lance walked up to Keith and draped his arms over Keith’s shoulders. “Come on,<em> chaparrito</em>, let’s go to Hunk’s.”</p><p>Keith tried to kiss him, but Lance walked away before Keith could do anything. Keith scoffed but followed him downstairs anyway. It was gonna be a long night if he had to look at Lance in that outfit all night while not being able to do anything.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I cheated again, but I couldn't think of a good Pirate AU story.<br/>Bonus points if you know which pirates I'm talking about.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Internet Friends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance had just finished his ten-step Korean skincare routine when his own Korean called. It was a video call. Lance accepted the call and was greeted by the sight of Keith.</p><p>“Hey,” Lance said.</p><p>“Hey,” Keith greeted back with a smile.</p><p>“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Lance asked. It was past one in the morning where Keith was. He walked over to his bedroom.</p><p>“I <em>am</em> in bed,” Keith responded.</p><p>“Let me rephrase that. Shouldn’t you be sleeping? You have an early day tomorrow.” Lance slipped under the covers and sat against the headboard.</p><p>“I can’t sleep. I’m too excited. And a little nervous, if I’m honest.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“We’ve never met and now I’m gonna spend the whole summer with you?” Keith looked worried.</p><p>“Keith, you love me, right?”</p><p>“Yes, of course.” Keith seemed almost offended that Lance would even ask that.</p><p>“And you know I love <em>you</em>, right?”</p><p>Keith nodded.</p><p>“So I don’t think we have anything to worry about,” Lance tried to reassure him.</p><p>“Still, there’s always that risk with online relationships.”</p><p>“Stop worrying,” Lance said. “We love each other, and for me, that’s reassurance enough that this will go well. Besides, it’s not like we’ve only just started dating. We’ve been dating for over six months, and we’ve been talking for even longer. I think it’s safe to say we’re no longer strangers on the internet.”</p><p>Keith looked at him with a fond smile. “I love it when you get passionate.”</p><p>“And I love it when you smile at me like that,” Lance said, smiling back.</p><p>Keith blushed and looked away. Man, Lance will never get tired of a flustered Keith.</p><p>“Can you believe it’s been over six months since we started dating?” Lance asked.</p><p>“Six months, one week, four days, and roughly six hours, but who’s counting,” Keith said.</p><p>“You are, apparently.”</p><p>“And we haven’t even had our first kiss yet. But that will hopefully change tomorrow. After dating for six months, one week, four days, and roughly eighteen hours, we will finally have our first kiss.”</p><p>“I’m looking forward to it.”</p><p>“Although can you really call it dating if we’ve never been on an actual date?”</p><p>“Fine, we’ve been in a relationship for six months.”</p><p>“The closest thing we’ve had to a date was watching a movie at the same time while calling, or eating dinner while calling.”</p><p>Lance chuckled.</p><p>“Will you take me on an actual date?” Keith asked.</p><p>“Hell yeah, I will. Just wait, I’m gonna take you on so many dates. Starting tomorrow. I’m gonna take you out for dinner,” Lance said. Then he realized. “Unless you’re tired from traveling. We can totally stay in tomorrow if you want.”</p><p>Keith chuckled. “We’ll see. But I can’t wait to see what sort of dates you have planned for us.”</p><p>“Did you pack a suit?”</p><p>“I don’t <em>own</em> a suit.”</p><p>“Well, did you at least pack a dress shirt or something that will pass for formal wear?”</p><p>“Yeah. Why, planning on taking me somewhere fancy?”</p><p>“There’s this restaurant that I’ve always wanted to try, but never had the chance.”</p><p>“Never had the chance to go or never had the chance to take someone?”</p><p>“The second one. The restaurant opened up less than a year ago, so.”</p><p>There was a silence, but it was a comfortable one. It was not uncommon for them to just stay on the line and enjoy each other’s presence. Sort of.</p><p>Lance let his eyes go over Keith’s image on his screen. His unruly mop of black hair, which was even more unruly now that he had no doubt tossed and turned trying to sleep before calling. His beautiful blue-gray eyes. The scar on his right cheek. Lance wanted to kiss it. And tomorrow he would finally get to. His broad shoulders, which were bare, a little bit of collarbone also in the frame.</p><p>“Hey Keith, are you shirtless?” Lance asked with a smirk.</p><p>“I’m in bed,” Keith deadpanned. Keith always slept in his underpants and Lance knew this.</p><p>“Show me,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith chuckled. There was some rustling of the blankets and then the image started moving down Keith’s mostly naked body. His chest came into view, and then his impressive abs. Lance will never get tired of this either. And tomorrow, he would get to touch that for the first time.</p><p>Lance let out an appreciative whistle. “I can’t wait to run my hands all over your body,” he said in a breathy voice.</p><p>“Are you trying to start something? Because then it will only take longer before I’ll fall asleep.” Keith moved his phone back up to put his face in front of the camera again.</p><p>“You’re right. But it’s still true. No more video call sex, we’ll be doing the real thing,” Lance said, grinning.</p><p>Keith’s face quickly reddened.</p><p>“Only if you want to, no pressure,” Lance added quickly.</p><p>“No, I want to,” Keith said. He hesitated. “It’s just that… I’ve never had sex with another person before.”</p><p>“I know,” Lance said. “But we can take it slow. And I’ve seen you take a dildo like a champ, so I don’t think my dick will be a problem.”</p><p>Keith shyly smiled at that.</p><p>“But I’ll let you set the pace,” Lance added. “Because I’m fine with whatever.”</p><p>“Are you sure?”</p><p>“Yes, absolutely. We’ll do what makes you most comfortable.”</p><p>“Thanks,” Keith said. Then he yawned.</p><p>“I think it’s time for you to go to sleep,” Lance said with a fond smile. “You wouldn’t wanna miss your flight tomorrow, would you?”</p><p>“I guess I can try to sleep.”</p><p>“And dream about me, of course.” Lance smirked.</p><p>“Of course,” Keith deadpanned. “I’ll see you tomorrow. And this time for real.”</p><p>“I can’t wait. I love you.”</p><p>“I love you too. Bye.” Keith waved at the camera.</p><p>Lance waved back. “Bye.”</p><p>~~</p><p>Lance was pacing at the terminal. He had tried sitting down but found himself too jittery for that. He checked again if he was at the right terminal. It must have been the fourth time. Keith’s plane had landed and he could be here any minute.</p><p>After a few minutes, people started coming out of the terminal. Lance scanned the crowd for that familiar face. That’s when he spotted him. Lance immediately started walking toward him.</p><p>Keith was looking around, also scanning the crowd.</p><p>“Keith!” Lance called out.</p><p>Keith’s head whipped around and Lance could pinpoint the exact moment Keith spotted him. Keith started walking with purpose, his suitcase dragging behind him. Lance couldn’t wait anymore and started running. Within seconds he was there.</p><p>They crashed into each other and threw their arms around each other. Lance buried his face in the crook of Keith’s neck. He took a deep breath and took in the scent of Keith. A scent he was gonna become very familiar with over the summer.</p><p>“You’re really here,” Lance said softly. He took a shuddering breath.</p><p>“Yes, I’m here,” Keith said, equally shaky. “And I’m not going away any time soon.”</p><p>“Thank God.” Lance let out a watery laugh. “I didn’t wait this long only for you to go away again.”</p><p>Keith drew his head back but kept his arms around Lance. “I’m gonna go away eventually.”</p><p>Lance lifted his head. “I know. This is just practice for when we move in together after college.”</p><p>Lance looked at Keith’s face. Really looked. It was right in front of him for the first time. Lance cupped his face with both hands. This was so much better than through a screen. His eyes looked gorgeous. Lance ran his thumb over the scar on Keith’s cheek.</p><p>“Can I kiss you?” Lance asked, voice barely above a whisper.</p><p>“Yes, please,” Keith replied.</p><p>They moved at the same time and their lips met for the first time. Forget butterflies, fireworks exploded in Lance’s stomach. The outside world disappeared. It was so much better than he could’ve hoped. Keith swiped his tongue over Lance’s bottom lip, asking permission, which Lance happily granted. He parted his lips and deepened the kiss. He moved one of his hands to the back of Keith’s head, tangling his fingers in his hair.</p><p>They moved together like they were meant to be. And who is to say they weren’t?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Musician</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky. Keith thought it was a good idea to walk around and see if anything caught his eye. He was currently walking through the park. He adjusted the messenger bag on his shoulder to keep it from slipping off. The park was nice. It had a pond with ducks, some winding paths through areas with a lot of plants.</p><p>The winding path he was on led to the main path near one of the entrances of the park. It was a wide, paved path with benches on both sides every ten yards or so. There something caught his eye.</p><p>He heard it before he saw it. He heard music and singing. He rounded the corner onto the wide path. He looked for the source of the music and he saw a man sitting on one of the benches, playing the guitar and singing. Keith decided to take a closer look.</p><p>He walked closer and looked at the man. The man was really good. He made it look effortless. He didn’t even have to look at the guitar to position his hands. He had a beautiful voice too. He sang in what sounded like Spanish. Keith didn’t know Spanish, but if he had to guess, he would say it was a love song. The man had his guitar case in front of him on the ground with some money in it.</p><p>And, his gay brain supplied, he was really good looking.</p><p>Keith felt the urge to draw this man. He had been waiting for that urge all day. It’s the reason he went outside in the first place, to find something to draw. So he decided to go for it.</p><p>He sat down on the bench opposite the man and took out his sketchbook and pencil case. He took a moment to look at the man, really take in his features. Then he got to work on the drawing, starting with a rough outline of his body and guitar.</p><p>The music was really nice background noise for drawing. Usually, Keith didn’t like distracting sounds when he tried to concentrate, but this was different somehow.</p><p>He kept looking between the man opposite him and his paper to make sure he captured him as accurately as possible. After a few times of doing that, he looked up again and saw that the man was looking at him with a bright smile. They made eye contact for a long moment. Then the man did something that looked like a wink, but it was so quick and casual that Keith wasn’t entirely sure, before looking away again. The whole time, he had not stopped playing.</p><p>Keith felt his face heating up. Did he see that correctly? Had the attractive man with the nice voice just winked at him? Keith decided that, no, he had probably seen something else. Besides, who winks at strangers?</p><p>He poured himself back over the drawing.</p><p>After several songs and what turned out to be about twenty minutes, Keith deemed the drawing finished. It looked really nice if he did say so himself. It was the best thing he’s made in the past few weeks. But Keith had to admit that the man was also the most inspiring thing he had drawn lately.</p><p>During those twenty minutes, they had made eye contact several more times. The man definitely knew Keith was drawing him and he didn’t seem to mind. Had he stayed in the same position the whole time on purpose? Because he hadn’t moved at all, aside from his hands.</p><p>Keith put his art supplies back in his bag and pulled out his wallet. He walked over to the man and dropped a dollar in the guitar case in front of him. Then he turned to walk away.</p><p>Keith had only made a few steps before the music abruptly cut off. “Hey!” he heard behind him. He turned around and found the man standing up and looking at him.</p><p>“Yes, I’m talking to you,” the man said, pointing directly at Keith. “You think you can just sit there and draw me and then walk away without saying anything?”</p><p>“Uhh,” was all Keith managed.</p><p>“I’ve been so nice and held the same position the whole time to make it easy on you and you don’t even thank me.” The words he said and the expression on his face conflicted with each other. He sounded angry, but he was actually smiling cockily.</p><p>Keith didn’t know how to respond. “I’m sorry?” he settled on.</p><p>“Yeah, you <em>should</em> be sorry. At least show me the drawing.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, sure,” Keith said. He took out his sketchbook and flipped to the right page. Then he handed the sketchbook to the man.</p><p>The man carefully placed his guitar on the bench and gingerly took the sketchbook. He stared at the page for a full ten seconds. “This is really good,” he said eventually. He started flipping through the pages and looking at Keith’s other drawings. “You’re very talented.”</p><p>“You know, lots of practice,” Keith said. He was used to others looking at his drawings, being an art major and all, but somehow it felt very intimate to share his drawings with a stranger. He was just glad this was his personal sketchbook and not the one he uses in class when he has to draw naked people.</p><p>“You draw mostly men,” the man noted. “Why is that?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “I just find men more interesting than women. I can draw women too, but that’s mostly for assignments and those are in my other sketchbooks.”</p><p>“Hmm,” the man hummed.</p><p>Keith watched as the man finished looking at his drawings and closed the sketchbook, handing it back.</p><p>“I still haven’t heard my thank you.”</p><p>“Oh, uh-” Keith started.</p><p>“So how about,” the man said before Keith could continue. He took a dollar from his guitar case and held it out. “You take back your dollar and use it to buy me a drink instead. As a thank you.”</p><p>Keith felt his face heating me up. “Are- are you asking me out?” he stuttered.</p><p>“I am,” the man said confidently.</p><p>Being asked out by a stranger? Keith thought that sort of thing only happened in movies.</p><p>“I’m Lance, by the way.”</p><p>“Keith.”</p><p>“So how about it, Keith?” Lance asked.</p><p>“I- uhh, I,” Keith stuttered.</p><p>Lance’s eyes widened. “Unless I completely misread the situation and you draw men for other reasons.”</p><p>“No!” Keith exclaimed. He winced at how loud he was. “No, you’re right. I draw men because I’m extremely gay.”</p><p>Lance chuckled. “<em>Extremely</em> gay, huh?”</p><p>“And yes. I want to go out with you,” Keith said. He looked away shyly.</p><p>“Nice. Let me pack my things and we can grab a coffee or something.” Lance sat back down on the bench and reached for the money in his guitar case.</p><p>“Oh, you mean <em>right now</em>?” Keith asked.</p><p>Lance looked up at him. “Yes. Unless now is not a good time for you. I figured if you’re just wandering around looking for something to draw, you don’t have any prior commitments.”</p><p>“No, right now works. I just hadn’t thought that far ahead, if I’m honest.”</p><p>Lance laughed at that. “Well, it’s a good thing <em>I</em> have then.”</p><p>Keith watched Lance collect the money and pack his guitar, and then they were on their way out of a park, looking for a place to have their date.</p><p>A beautiful day indeed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Bookstore</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Today was supposed to be Leakira, but I know next to nothing about Leakira, so I decided to make it a bookstore AU.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith opened the box and took out a new stack of the local LGBT newsletter. He placed them where they belonged in the newspaper stand.</p><p>He dared a glance over at the café portion of the bookstore/café. The cute boy who was reading The Rise of Kyoshi was still there, fortunately. He had been sitting at one of the tables for the last thirty minutes and from what Keith could tell, he was on his second latte.</p><p>The Rise of Kyoshi is one of Keith’s favorite books. Keith wanted to go over and talk to him about it. But the boy was incredibly attractive, and Keith had a track record of failing to talk to attractive boys. That’s why he kept finding ways to procrastinate on walking up to him. Shiro would proud of the amount of work Keith got done today. But eventually, the boy would leave, so it was now or never.</p><p>He walked over to the table. “Hey,” he said.</p><p>The boy looked up, seemingly surprised. “Oh, hey. Keith, right?”</p><p>Keith was perplexed. “How do you know?”</p><p>“I heard the other guy say it to you.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s probably Shiro. He’s the manager.”</p><p>“The one with the eyeliner so sharp it could kill a man.”</p><p>“Yep, that’s Shiro.”</p><p>“I’m Lance.”</p><p>“So, I noticed you’re reading The Rise of Kyoshi. It’s one of my favorite books,” Keith said hesitantly.</p><p>“Oh, really? What’s your favorite part?” Lance enthusiastically replied.</p><p>“I can’t say that without spoiling it for you,” Keith said. He took the liberty of seating himself on the chair opposite Lance’s.</p><p>“That’s true. Thanks for being so considerate,” Lance said with a wink.</p><p>Keith flushed. “Also, I don’t really have a favorite part that sticks out way above the rest. I like the whole book. Where are you now?”</p><p>“Kyoshi just got swore the daofei code to the Flying Opera Company. Why is that word always in italics, by the way?”</p><p>“I think because it’s not an English word.”</p><p>Keith tried to subtly check Lance out. He noticed a pink, purple, and blue bracelet around his wrist. “Nice bracelet,” he said.</p><p>Lance looked at his bracelet as well. “Thanks. A friend made it for me. She makes all kinds of cool pride things.”</p><p>“Tell her to come by, maybe we can talk about selling them here.”</p><p>“Really? That would be so cool.”</p><p>“Yeah, we’re always looking for new fun stuff to sell. We already sell a bunch of pride things. Stickers, buttons, bookmarks, you name it.”</p><p>“I know,” Lance said. “I bought most of them. Like this bookmark.” He picked up a bookmark that was face down on the table. It was rainbow with the words ‘love is love’ on it.</p><p>“I have that one too,” Keith said.</p><p>“As soon as I saw the ‘LGBT safe space’ sticker on the door I knew this was gonna be my new favorite hangout. And I hadn’t even set foot inside yet.”</p><p>“It’s one of the reasons I like working here.”</p><p>“Do you think Kyoshi would wear a bisexual pride bracelet?” Lance mused.</p><p>“I don’t think so. She wants to keep it on the down-low. The world is not particularly accepting.”</p><p>“But she’s a bi icon. She needs to be proud of who she is. We need more people like her in the media,” Lance exclaimed. “I ship her and Rangi so hard.”</p><p>“Me too. Have they kissed yet?” Keith asked.</p><p>“Um, woah, spoilers,” Lance said. “No, they haven’t.”</p><p>“Oh, shit, sorry,” Keith quickly said.</p><p>Lance chuckled. “It’s fine. I already knew they were gonna be a thing. I’ll be honest, I’m kinda glad they killed off Yun. Now it can’t become a love triangle.”</p><p>Keith opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it and closed it again.</p><p>Lance picked up on that. “What? Is Yun not really dead or something?”</p><p>“I’m not saying anything,” Keith said.</p><p>Lance narrowed his eyes. “You know something,” he said in a low voice.</p><p>“Of course I know something. I’ve read the whole book <em>and</em> the sequel.”</p><p>“I have the sequel at home, waiting for me.”</p><p>“Kyoshi is my favorite Avatar,” Keith said. “I liked her even before I read the books, but now I absolutely love her. She gets things done and will do whatever it takes and I admire that. Unlike Aang.”</p><p>“You don’t like Aang?” Lance asked.</p><p>“Not really. He’s boring. He’s a twelve-year-old boy and his biggest flaw is that he’s childish. That’s just not realistic. And of course that he refused to kill Ozai.”</p><p>“You see that as a flaw?”</p><p>“Leaving Ozai alive can create some serious problems for Zuko. The people against Zuko still have a person to rally behind because taking his bending away does not change anything about his capabilities as a leader. They could try to put him back on the throne. They even <em>do</em> that in the comics. Try, I mean.”</p><p>“Huh.” Lance sat back in his chair. “I never thought of it that way.”</p><p>“He doesn’t understand that war means making sacrifices, and that includes not holding on to morals that aren’t realistic. Yangchen even said it herself. He needs to not be selfish and do what’s best for the world.”</p><p>“You have very strong feelings about this, don’t you,” Lance said with a smile.</p><p>Keith felt himself flushing. It hadn’t occurred to him that Lance might not want to hear all this. “Yeah, sorry.”</p><p>“Don’t apologize. I like it when people share their opinions. As long as they’re not harmful, of course. I’ve always kind of admired that Aang stands by his morals no matter what, that he doesn’t give in to the pressure. But I do agree that he’s not the most interesting character. Characters like Zuko, Katara, and Azula have a more compelling arc. But on the other hand, Toph doesn’t change that much either, and people <em>love</em> her.”</p><p>“Toph was a more interesting character to begin with,” Keith said. He held his hands up. “I’m sorry, I just <em>don’t like</em> Aang. Like you said, Zuko, Katara, Azula, even Sokka, are all more interesting.”</p><p>Lance leaned his elbows on the table. “So what do you think about Korra?”</p><p>“I like Korra a lot more. She’s flawed. I like characters who are flawed. She’s-”</p><p>“Keith, I don’t pay you to sit down in the café,” Shiro said in passing.</p><p>“But you <em>do</em> pay me to talk about books,” Keith shot back.</p><p>Shiro smiled. “Get back to work,” he said in a kind but firm tone.</p><p>“Too bad, I would’ve loved to discuss Legend of Korra with you,” Lance said. He looked disappointed.</p><p>Keith had an idea. A very bold and possibly stupid idea. “Wait one second.” He shot out of his chair and quickly walked over to the counter. He scribbled his number on a piece of paper. When he walked back to Lance’s table, he saw that Lance’s gaze had followed him. Before he could come to his senses, he handed the paper to Lance. “Here’s my number. Text me and we can continue this conversation.”</p><p>“Just this conversation?” Lance asked with a smirk.</p><p>“Or other things,” Keith said. “Whatever you want.”</p><p>Lance took the paper and immediately entered the number in his phone. “You’ll be hearing from me. Maybe I’ll live text you my reactions to The Rise of Kyoshi,” he said.</p><p>“Yeah, do that. I want to know your reaction.”</p><p>“Keith,” Shiro said firmly.</p><p>“Text me,” Keith said and he turned around to walk to the counter. Not a minute later, he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out and saw he had a text from an unknown number.</p><p>
  <em>so thoughts on korra??</em>
</p><p>Keith looked over at Lance and saw him looking at him. Keith pocketed his phone. He couldn’t suppress the smile on his face. Not that he wanted to.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm projecting. Keith's thoughts on Aang are my thoughts on Aang.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Fantasy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance burst into Keith’s store with flair. “I have arrived!” he exclaimed.</p><p>Keith didn’t even look up from what he was doing behind the counter. “Hey.”</p><p>“<em>Hey</em>? That’s all I get?” Lance asked, mock offended.</p><p>“What did you expect? <em>Oh, Lance, I’m so happy to see you, my day has been made</em>,” Keith said, batting his eyelashes.</p><p>“A little more enthusiasm would be nice.” Lance looked around the store. The best way to describe Keith’s store would be Bath &amp; Body Works, but make it magical. He sold all kinds of soaps, and candles, and skincare, all that good stuff. And all of them had magical properties. “So, got any new stuff?”</p><p>“I got some new soap that will keep you clean for a week,” Keith said while pointing.</p><p>Lance walked over to the soap display. He picked up a light blue bar of soap. “This one?” he asked.</p><p>“Yep.” Keith went back to whatever he was doing.</p><p>Lance brought it to his nose and inhaled. The smell of clean linen flooded his nostrils. Keith had some sort of spell on the shop so that you only smelt whatever product you wanted to smell, and the fragrances wouldn’t all mix together in the air. It made it a lot more bearable to be in the shop for a long time. “Smells nice, but not really my thing,” Lance said.</p><p>“I can make it in another scent if you want.”</p><p>“No, I meant I don’t have a need for soap that keeps me clean because I like showering.”</p><p>“I have gotten a lot of requests for stuff that limits the number of showers ever since I opened the store, so I thought I should just make it a standard product.”</p><p>Lance put the soap back. “Makes sense.” He walked over to Keith and parked himself behind the counter like he owned the place. He was good friends with the guy who owned the place, though, so it was okay. He was careful to not get too close to Luna, Keith’s familiar. The black cat was perched on the edge of the counter on the other side of Keith and she hated everyone except Keith. Lance learned the hard way that you should really respect her personal space. “What’re you doing?” he asked.</p><p>“Making a list of things I need to buy for orders,” Keith said without taking his eyes off said list.</p><p>“Well, you can add some more to it. I’m almost out of face cream.”</p><p>“I’ll make you a new one.”</p><p>He didn’t have to specify what he wanted, he always wanted the same thing and Keith knew exactly what that was. At first, Lance was hesitant to buy something from Keith because he knew how the spells were cast. But after Keith convinced him that it was no big deal, he ordered his first face cream and never looked back. He replaced ten products with just one, and his skin has never been happier.</p><p>“Is that the only reason you came?” Keith asked.</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“You could’ve just texted.”</p><p>“I was in the area. Besides, can’t I visit my friend without you questioning it?” Or maybe he really wanted to see Keith more than his other friends. But he wasn’t about to admit that out loud.</p><p>“I guess.”</p><p>Lance leaned with one elbow on the counter and took a good look at Keith. He really had that modern witch aesthetic down. He wore black skinny jeans, a dark red oversized tee, and chunky black boots. Around his neck was a necklace with a moon pendant and a black choker, and his ears had several black piercings, as well as a black nose ring in his right nostril. His nails were painted black. A lot of black. When he goes outside, he wears an oversized black jacket. And although you couldn’t see it now, Lance knew for a fact that he had a tattoo of the phases of the moon along his spine, also black.</p><p>“You look good,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith froze. “Thanks,” he said, sounding casual. But Lance knew Keith long enough to see he was fighting to keep his cool.</p><p>“Though there’s one thing missing. Where’s your pointy hat?” Lance joked.</p><p>Keith sighed, but relaxed. “We don’t actually wear pointy hats. The only witches I know that ever wear pointy hats are in costume for children’s parties and stuff.”</p><p>Lance snickered. “You’re not a<em> real</em> witch,” he said.</p><p>“Then I guess I can’t make your magical face cream,” Keith shot back.</p><p>“No, I take it back. You’re a real witch. You’re the best witch in the world. I can’t go without my face cream, Keith, please,” Lance pleaded.</p><p>“That’s what I thought,” Keith said with a smug smile. He put his pen down and reached to grab something from underneath the counter, but he bumped his hand against the edge and hissed in pain.</p><p>“You okay?” Lance asked, concern lacing his voice.</p><p>“Yeah. I did a bunch of spells yesterday and I hit it exactly where I cut.” Keith raised his hand to inspect the cut.</p><p>“Ah,” Lance said as understanding dawned on him. Doing a spell usually meant using blood. He doubted that a lot of people would buy Keith’s products if they knew he had to use blood to pay for the magic. “Want me to kiss it better?” Lance asked jokingly.</p><p>Keith froze again. “Okay,” he said after a few seconds and he held his hand out. His face was steadily reddening, but he didn’t look away.</p><p>“Okay,” Lance repeated. He took Keith’s hand and pressed his lips to the cut for a second.</p><p>“It hurts here too,” Keith said, pointing to his wrist.</p><p>Lance took Keith’s other hand and looked at it. Sure enough, another cut. He pressed a kiss to the cut.</p><p>“It hurts here too,” Keith said and he pointed to his mouth. His face was the approximate color of a tomato by now, but he did not back down.</p><p>Lance felt his own face heating up as well but leaned in slowly nonetheless. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Keith’s. They were soft and warm. He heard Keith take in a sharp breath through his nose.</p><p>It was about as uneventful as a first kiss could be, just their lips pressed together and neither of them moving, but Lance still felt something in his stomach. A good something. He hoped he could feel it again soon.</p><p>Lance pulled back and opened his eyes. Keith still had his closed but opened them a second later. He was blushing like crazy and it looked adorable.</p><p>“Better?” Lance asked.</p><p>“Yeah,” Keith answered in a breathy voice.</p><p>“Maybe I’m a witch too if my kisses make your pain go away,” Lance said, smirking.</p><p>“Shut up,” Keith said, but there was no malice behind it. He looked away. “I have to get to work.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Youtubers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey guys, welcome back to my channel,” Lance said enthusiastically, looking directly into the camera. “As you can probably tell by the title of this video, we’re doing the boyfriend tag, with my lovely boyfriend Keith.” He wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulders, who was sitting next to him on a couch in what was presumably their living room.</p><p>Keith looked unsure of what to do. He always did when he was in Lance’s videos. But the viewers loved him nonetheless. “Hey,” he said and he waved somewhat awkwardly.</p><p>Lance kissed Keith’s cheek, then looked back at the camera. “For those who don’t know, the boyfriend or girlfriend tag is where your partner answers questions about you to see how much they know about you. But I’ve decided that I’m gonna be answering them about him as well.” He looked at Keith. “The viewers have been asking for this. They want to see you in more videos.”</p><p>“Why? I’m awkward as fuck in front of the camera.”</p><p>“Well, the more often you’re in videos, the more comfortable you would get. Anyway, I’ve compiled a list of some questions. There are twenty in total,” Lance said. He had his phone in his hand and looked at the screen. “First question. When and where did we meet?”</p><p>“In college,” Keith answered.</p><p>Lance made a gesture for Keith to elaborate.</p><p>“We were in the same photography class,” Keith eventually continued.</p><p>“This was in our freshmen year,” Lance said. “And fun fact, I didn’t actually like you at first.”</p><p>“I know.”</p><p>“Yes, but the viewers don’t. But I was jealous of how good you were at photography. So I acted like a dick. But after a while, I realized that it’s not your fault and I shouldn’t be such a dick. And then we became friends. Where was our first date?”</p><p>“We went to the zoo and then had dinner. You had the time of your life in the aquarium. Then we had dinner at your favorite Thai place.”</p><p>“Yes. Their spicy shrimp soup is the best I’ve ever had. We still regularly go to that restaurant.” Lance smacked Keith’s chest with the back of his hand. “We should go tonight, it’s been a while.”</p><p>Keith smiled fondly. “Sure,” he said.</p><p>“Sweet. Alright, when and where was our first kiss?”</p><p>“We had a karaoke night with our friends. You dropped me off at my place and then I kissed you.”</p><p>“This happened before we had our first date,” Lance clarified. “I asked you on a date the day after. After dancing around each other like idiots for months. This all happened in our sophomore year, by the way. A little over a year after we met.”</p><p>Keith chuckled. “We were so oblivious. We thought we were being subtle with our feelings too, but our friends knew what was going on, only <em>we</em> didn’t. I still think that night was a setup to get us together.”</p><p>“Oh, you and your conspiracies,” Lance said. “Anyway, who said I love you first?”</p><p>“You,” Keith said immediately. “And you still tell me every day. Because you think you can never say it too much, but you<em> can</em> say it too little.”</p><p>“Exactly. And I’m glad you pretty much always say it back. I love you,” Lance said, making heart eyes at Keith.</p><p>“I love you too,” Keith said with a smile.</p><p>Lance smiled at Keith for a few seconds before looking at his phone for the next question. “How long have we dated?”</p><p>“Like four and a half years.”</p><p>“Okay, so those were the questions about our relationship, now come the questions about ourselves. First off, where was I born?” Lance asked.</p><p>“Varadero, Cuba,” Keith said without hesitation. “And you moved to the states with your family when you were six.”</p><p>“That is correct. You were technically born in one of the hospitals in Houston, but you grew up in a small town in Texas. Now, what food can you wake me up for?”</p><p>“Pretty much anything your mom makes,” Keith said.</p><p>“True, but can you be more specific?” Lance asked.</p><p>“Probably ropa vieja.”</p><p>“Yes, that will always be my favorite food. I can wake you up for pancakes. Whenever we go to a place that serves breakfast all day long, you pick pancakes.”</p><p>“And there’s nothing wrong with that,” Keith said defensively.</p><p>“I never said there was, babe. So, what do I watch on tv?”</p><p>“Reality tv. But not the fun kind. You watch things like The Bachelor and Housewives something or other.”</p><p>“Do you mean Desperate Housewives or The Real Housewives?”</p><p>“You watch both.”</p><p>“True, but Desperate Housewives isn’t reality tv.”</p><p>Keith waved his hand. “Whatever.”</p><p>“You also watch reality tv. Only you watch those shows about unsolved murders and stuff on Discovery.”</p><p>“Not just unsolved ones. Just true crime in general.”</p><p>“But you don’t really watch fictional television. Alright, who is my favorite musician?”</p><p>“Beyoncé or Ariana Grande or one of those people. Popular female singers,” Keith answered.</p><p>“That is correct. I don’t really have a favorite, I have a bunch of people in the top bracket, if that makes sense,” Lance explained. “You like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance. A leftover from your emo phase. I don’t get it.”</p><p>“Well, I don’t get your taste in music either. Your taste in media in general.”</p><p>“We always fight over the aux cord in the car,” Lance said, looking at the camera. “Next question, what sport do I like most?”</p><p>“Swimming. You even were a lifeguard one summer.”</p><p>“You like kickboxing.”</p><p>“It started out as a healthy way to let my aggression out, and it stuck with me.”</p><p>“So, what kind of films do I like?”</p><p>“Romcoms and all that mushy stuff that I will never understand the appeal of,” Keith said.</p><p>“Like your taste is any better,” Lance argued.</p><p>“It definitely is.”</p><p>“You watch documentaries. Crime, and conspiracies, and cryptid. For fun.”</p><p>“They <em>are</em> fun.”</p><p>“If you say so. What is the first thing I do in the morning?”</p><p>“Your skincare routine. That is unnecessarily long.”</p><p>Lance made an offended noise. “I’ll have you know that each of the ten steps in my skincare routine is of the utmost importance. Besides, I know you secretly like it because it makes my skin soft.</p><p>Keith looked away. “Shut up,” he said.</p><p>“You go on a run first thing in the morning. And I’m talking like eight on a weekend. I don’t know how you do it.”</p><p>“Step one, have insomnia,” Keith deadpanned.</p><p>“I was just joking, babe. So, what was our first trip together?”</p><p>“As a couple or just in general? Because we went on weekend trips with our friends before we started dating. And I don’t remember our first weekend trip.”</p><p>“As a couple.”</p><p>“We went to Varadero together. You showed me your childhood home and the beach and all your favorite spots. It was really nice,” Keith said with a fond smile.</p><p>“And for those of you thinking <em>huh, didn’t he move to the states when he was six, how does he still remember his favorite spots</em>, I visit my family in Cuba at least once a year,” Lance clarified. “And since we started dating, I’ve always taken Keith with me. They love you, babe.” He looked at Keith and smiled.</p><p>“I know,” Keith said with a bashful smile.</p><p>There was a beat of silence before Lance continued. “How do I drink my coffee?”</p><p>“Depends. At home, you drink it with cream, but when you go to a coffee shop you order all kinds of extravagant orders. Usually iced in the summer. And different flavors.”</p><p>“True. You usually just drink it black, like your soul,” Lance joked.</p><p>“It’s bitter like my soul too.”</p><p>Lance laughed. “What’s my favorite animal?”</p><p>“Shark.”</p><p>“Hippo.”</p><p>When neither of them elaborated, Lance spoke up again. “Okay then. What was my first job?”</p><p>“Didn’t you work at a convenience store or something?”</p><p>“I worked at Target.”</p><p>“Oh, right.”</p><p>“I’ll be honest, I don’t actually know what your first job was,” Lance admitted. “I know you worked at a car repair shop during college, but I doubt that was your first job.”</p><p>“I worked at an ice cream shop when I was sixteen,” Keith said.</p><p>“Wait, really?” Lance exclaimed. “You worked retail?”</p><p>“Yes, unfortunately. But it wasn’t the worst, your Target job was probably worse.”</p><p>“Okay then. I did learn something from the boyfriend tag after all.” Lance chuckled. “This segues nicely into our next question, what is my favorite ice cream flavor?”</p><p>“Ben &amp; Jerry’s Netflix Chill’d. You eat it all the time.”</p><p>“I can’t help it, it’s my guilty pleasure.” Lance looked at the camera. “Netflix &amp; Chill’d, look it up. It’s peanut butter ice cream with brownie chunks and a pretzel swirl.” He looked back at Keith. “You don’t eat a lot of ice cream, but when you do it’s usually mint chocolate.”</p><p>“You probably don’t know the origin story of that one, do you?”</p><p>“There’s an origin story?”</p><p>“The ice cream shop I worked at had After Eight ice cream and it was delicious. That is still my favorite ice cream ever. Too bad the ice cream shop is all the way in Texas.”</p><p>“We could go some time,” Lance suggested.</p><p>“Yeah, maybe. If it even still exists.”</p><p>“Anyway, what is one thing I like that you don’t?”</p><p>“Women,” Keith said immediately.</p><p>Lance burst out laughing. Keith wore an amused smile.</p><p>“I guess that’s true,” Lance said after he caught his breath. “Not really what I had in mind, but I’ll count it. You like reading. I don’t, I don’t have the patience for it.”</p><p>“That’s what I don’t understand. You don’t have the patience to read, but you <em>do</em> have the patience to make these intricate makeup looks?”</p><p>“That’s because makeup is something that interests me. We’re not having this conversation again,” Lance said, but it was with a smile on his face. “How old was I when I had my first kiss?”</p><p>“Like fourteen? It was with a girl because you didn’t discover you’re bi until senior year of high school.”</p><p>“Correct. Now, you didn’t actually have your first kiss until college. And it was with a guy who shall not be named because he’s a dick and we hate him.”</p><p>“Let’s just leave it at that,” Keith said abruptly.</p><p>“Okay, last question,” Lance said. “What is my favorite makeup product?”</p><p>“How am I supposed to know that?”</p><p>“I talk about it a lot in my beauty videos.”</p><p>Keith put on his thinking face and was silent for a solid ten seconds. Lance waited patiently for an answer.</p><p>“Is it your eyeliner? The one Shiro recommended?” Keith said eventually.</p><p>“Ding-ding-ding! Correct! The Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Intense Black.”</p><p>“That’s a lot of words for an eyeliner.”</p><p>“Speaking of makeup, you know what else we should do? The boyfriend does my makeup challenge.”</p><p>“Lance, no.”</p><p>“<em>Yes</em>.” Lance bounced excitedly on his place on the couch. “The viewers would love that.”</p><p>“I know like nothing about makeup,” Keith complained.</p><p>“You’ve seen me do plenty of makeup videos, you probably know more than you think. Come on, it’ll be fun.” Lance looked at the camera. “Do you guys want to see Keith do my makeup? Let me know in the comments,” he said, pointing down. He leaned in and stage whispered, “I already know the answer.”</p><p>Keith just rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Alright, that was the boyfriend tag. I hope you learned something about me and Keith,” Lance said. He paused for a second. “Actually, before we go, I have one bonus question.” He slid off the couch and got on one knee in front of it. He took Keith’s hand. “Keith, if five years ago, you would’ve told me that I would one day be hopelessly in love with you, I would’ve laughed in your face. We had a rocky start and I thought we would always have this rivalry that I made up. That couldn’t be further from the truth.”</p><p>Keith’s eyebrows drew together as realization seemed to dawn on him.</p><p>“I love you with all my heart and I’ve known for a while now that I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” Lance continued. “So will you make me the happiest man in the world? Will you marry me?”</p><p>Keith was silent for a long moment. “Are you serious!” he exclaimed.</p><p>Lance didn’t seem fazed by Keith’s outburst and smiled. “Yes, I am. I’ve never been more serious in my life.”</p><p>Keith looked like he might cry any second, but didn’t want to in front of the camera. “Fuck you!” he yelled. “I love you!” He launched himself off the couch and threw his arms around Lance’s torso, burying his face in the crook of Lance’s neck.</p><p>Lance brought his arms around Keith and held him tightly. “So is that a yes or a no?”</p><p>“Yes!” Keith yelled into Lance’s neck, his voice slightly muffled.</p><p>Lance’s smile grew even wider. He looked at the camera with wet eyes. “Well, you heard it here first, folks. We’re getting married. Now I think it’s time to cut the camera so this one can let his emotions out. See you in the next video. Bye.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Florist</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I never understood why florist and tattoo shop AUs are put together, so I decided to separate them and use florist for the first free day.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance was having a good day. He had just sold a bouquet to one of his regular customers and was currently checking if all the flowers had enough water. He hummed a tune while doing that.</p><p>The bell indicated that another customer had entered the shop. Lance looked up and his heart did a little flutter. It was Keith. His day just got better.</p><p>“Keith, buddy, what’s up?” Lance asked.</p><p>Keith shrugged. “Not much.”</p><p>“I haven’t seen much of you lately.” Unfortunately. “How you been?”</p><p>“Good, I guess. Been dealing with some stuff,” Keith said.</p><p>“What kind of stuff? Or do you not want to tell me?” Lance asked.</p><p>“I’d rather not,” Keith said.</p><p>Lance understood that Keith might not want to tell him everything, but he remembered a time where they <em>did </em>tell each other pretty much everything. But for some reason, Keith had been rather distant lately. The past month or so, they’ve barely seen each other and a lot of his texts went unanswered.</p><p>But Keith was here now, so Lance didn’t dwell on it too much. He was happy to get any attention from Keith he could get.</p><p>“So, what can I do for you?” Lance asked, leaning on the counter. Keith rarely came to the shop, feeling like he shouldn’t keep Lance from his work. So now that he was here, it was probably because he needed something, most likely flowers.</p><p>Keith started fidgeting and looked at the floor. “I wanna confess my love to someone with flowers. How do I do that?”</p><p>Lance felt his heart drop. His face fell too, but he quickly schooled it into a forced smile. Rationally, he had known this would happen sooner or later. Lance had yet to act on his feelings, and he couldn’t expect Keith to stay single until he got his shit together. Still, the reality of it hit hard.</p><p>Keith had found someone and it wasn’t him.</p><p>Lance took a deep breath to get his thoughts together. “Well, do you want it to mean something or will a pretty bouquet do?” he asked.</p><p>“I want it to mean something. He will definitely understand,” Keith said.</p><p>“Okay, let’s see what we can do.” Lance started walking around the shop, looking for flowers. “So, who’s the lucky guy? Do I know him?” He tried to sound happy, but it came out forced.</p><p>“You might,” Keith said. “You’ll find out soon.”</p><p>That was not really an answer to his question, but Lance decided not to push. Keith would tell him in his own time.</p><p>“What are your thoughts on red roses? They mean passionate love.” Lance looked at Keith.</p><p>Keith looked a little lost. “I don’t know.”</p><p>“Maybe <em>passionate love</em> is a bit much for a confession,” Lance said. He continued looking. “What about red carnation? They mean love and affection.”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Keith repeated. “Can you just pick something for me? He will like whatever you pick.”</p><p>“Okay,” Lance said. He decided to go for the red carnation. “Let’s see.” He went to work picking up several different flowers that all meant some variation of love. They would make a lovely bouquet together.</p><p>He went behind the counter and prepared the bouquet. Keith stayed quiet the whole time, watching from in front of the counter.</p><p>“Is this guy the reason I haven’t seen much of you lately?” Lance tried not to sound resentful.</p><p>“You could say that.”</p><p>The bouquet was finished and Lance turned back to Keith. “What do you think?” he asked.</p><p>“Looks good. What does it mean?”</p><p>“This is the red carnation. This is pink daisy, they mean gentleness, love, and romance. The red tulip means declaration of love, very fitting,” he said, pointing to each of the flowers. “The red chrysanthemum means I love you.” He looked directly at Keith and Keith stared back.</p><p>Keith was the first to break the eye contact. “This is perfect. How much is it?”</p><p>“Twenty-five dollars.”</p><p>Keith pulled out his wallet and handed him the money. He gently picked up the bouquet. “Thanks,” he said.</p><p>“You’re welcome,” Lance replied, and he meant it. Keith finding happiness was what’s most important here, and whether that was with him or another guy, didn’t matter. It was Lance’s own fault for not acting sooner.</p><p>He watched Keith exit the shop and let the forced smile fall off his face.</p><hr/><p>Later that day, Lance was home. He was sitting on the couch, watching tv. In his hands, he had a pint of Ben &amp; Jerry’s Brewed to Matter he had picked up on the way home. He just found out the guy he’d been in love with for the past months was in love with someone else, and he was eating his feelings, sue him.</p><p>His doorbell ringed. Lance sighed. He wasn’t in the mood for any visitors. But after shoving another spoonful of ice in his mouth, he got up to get the door anyway.</p><p>He opened the door and immediately a bouquet of flowers was shoved in his face. Lance took a step back. It looked an awful lot like the bouquet he had made for Keith that afternoon. He looked around the bouquet and saw Keith standing there.</p><p>“Keith, what are you doing here?” he asked.</p><p>“What does it look like,” Keith said. He looked unsure of himself.</p><p>“Did he not like the flowers?”</p><p>“Remember when I said you would find out who the guy was?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“This is you finding out.” Keith refused to meet his eyes.</p><p>“But it’s just us here,” Lance said.</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>Lance looked at Keith and realization dawned on him. “Come in, we’re not doing this in the hallway,” he said. He walked back into his apartment and heard Keith follow inside and close the door.</p><p>They stood in the living room and before Lance could say anything, Keith shoved the bouquet at him again.</p><p>“These are for you,” Keith said. His cheeks looked suspiciously pink.</p><p>Lance took the bouquet and placed them in a vase. When he turned back he saw that Keith had taken off his coat and sat down on the couch. Lance walked over and sat down next to him.</p><p>“So, let me get this straight. <em>I’m</em> the guy you want to confess your love to?” Lance asked.</p><p>Keith still didn’t look at him. “Yes.”</p><p>“And the reason we spoke so little the past month?”</p><p>“I thought it was best to create some distance while I tried to sort through my feelings.”</p><p>“And what was the conclusion?”</p><p>“That I’m really in love with you. And I want to take you out on a date.” There was a pause. “If you’ll let me,” he added. He was determinedly looking at his shoes.</p><p>“Keith, look at me,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith lifted his head and finally met Lance’s eyes.</p><p>“I would love to go on a date with you. And a second, and a third. All the dates you want. Because I’m in love with you too.”</p><p>Keith’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. His face turned a distinctly red color. He bashfully looked away again. “This turned out better than I ever could’ve hoped,” he said.</p><p>Lance chuckled. “I know the feeling.”</p><p>“Oh, and Lance? Ice cream, in the middle of winter?”</p><p>“I thought you were in love with someone else, so I needed comfort food,” Lance defended. “You want some?”</p><p>“I’m lactose intolerant.”</p><p>“I know, but you don’t always seem to care.”</p><p>“To be fair, I have yet to meet a lactose intolerant person who always cares.”</p><p>“So, you want some?” Lance asked again.</p><p>“Fine, just a little,” Keith said.</p><p>“Great. We can watch a movie together and call it our first date.”</p><p>Keith made a noise that could only be described as a squawk. “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind for our first date,” he said.</p><p>Lance got up to get a second spoon. “We can do what you had in mind for our <em>second</em> date.”</p><p>Keith laughed. It was a beautiful sound. “Alright, it’s a date.”</p><p>Lance was having a good day.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Road Trip</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>That morning, Lance had shown up with his car and a desperate look on his face.</p><p>“I <em>need</em> to get out of here. Please come with me,” he had pleaded.</p><p>And Keith was too weak to deny him anything.</p><p>So here they were, nine hours into an impromptu road trip with no destination in mind. For all of those nine hours, Lance had been driving. He refused to let Keith drive his beloved Blue, despite Keith offering multiple times. Keith could see that Lance was getting tired.</p><p>“How about we find a place to stay the night and then find some dinner?” Keith said. He wasn’t sure how Lance was gonna respond.</p><p>Lance looked calmer than this morning. But they had only made two stops in those nine hours, and both times Lance insisted they leave as quickly as possible. He wanted to put as much distance between them and their town as possible, it seemed like. But Keith wasn’t gonna ask. During the drive, they had talked and bantered and sung along to rock classics, the only genre they agreed on. Almost as if they were in a normal situation. But one subject had been noticeably absent. <em>Why</em>?</p><p>“I can go for a little longer,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith was afraid Lance might say that. He also saw that Lance was lying. He decided to go another route. “But I can’t. I’m dying to stretch my legs and I’m tired from spending all day in a car.”</p><p>Lance briefly made eye contact with Keith. “Alright, let’s find a place then,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith pulled out his phone and searched for a nice-ish motel with good enough reviews. “Take the next exit. I found a motel,” he said.</p><p>Lance obliged and twenty minutes later, they were standing at the reception of a motel that looked decent enough, given the price point. After checking in, they went to their room to drop off their stuff. Upon entering the room, they saw that the room only had one double bed, and Keith wasn’t sure if he should be happy about it or not. It all depended on how Lance would react to it.</p><p>Lance didn’t react at all. He simply dropped his bag and went to check out the bathroom. “Looks clean,” he commented. He walked back out. “Alright, let’s go into town and find a place to eat.”</p><p>A little while later, they were sitting in a nice diner, Lance with a plate of hash browns and Keith with a cheeseburger. They ate in comfortable silence.</p><p>Keith was waiting for a moment to broach the subject. Sooner or later, Lance was gonna have to tell him what this was all about. But in the middle of a busy diner didn’t seem fair on Lance. So Keith decided to wait.</p><p>Later that night, they were back at the motel. They were both sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard, watching tv. They still had some snacks leftover from the drive.</p><p>Keith looked at Lance. He looked more relaxed than he had been all day.</p><p>“Wanna talk about it?” Keith asked. This could go either way.</p><p>After a long moment, Lance turned off the tv and sighed wearily. “I suppose.”</p><p>Keith waited patiently while Lance prepared himself mentally.</p><p>“Do you ever think about that if you died tomorrow, would you be happy with the life you’ve had?”</p><p>The question was somehow both surprising and not at all. It was obvious this road trip had come from a place of desperation to do <em>something</em>. And Keith knew that Lance didn’t do the things he always dreamed of as a kid. Still, Keith was surprised that Lance actually acted on the sentiment.</p><p>“Not really,” Keith answered honestly.</p><p>“Well, I <em>did</em>,” Lance said. “And I’ve come to the conclusion that I wouldn’t be. I studied business because my parents wanted me to, to one day take over the company because my parents want me to, and I’m working a desk job in that company because my parents want me to. I feel like everything in my life is about what my parents want. I have no real hobbies, aside from watching tv and fucking around on the internet. I have nothing going on in my life for <em>me</em>.” Lance took a deep breath before continuing. “So I ran away from my life. And I know it’s stupid.”</p><p>“I don’t think it’s stupid,” Keith said.</p><p>“See, that’s why I asked you to come with me. Hunk would’ve tried to talk me out of it and Pidge is too busy. I need someone to be stupid <em>with</em> me.”</p><p>“It’s not stupid,” Keith repeated.</p><p>Lance didn’t respond to that. He took a shuddering breath. “And I feel selfish. I feel selfish for not being happy with the life my parents wanted me to have.” His eyes were wet with unshed tears.</p><p>“It’s not selfish,” Keith tried to assure him. He didn’t know if Lance believed him, but he was gonna try anyway. “You don’t owe your parents anything. You don’t owe them your working life, and you certainly don’t owe them your happiness. Your siblings didn’t go into your parents’ company, but you don’t think they’re selfish, do you?”</p><p>“Of course not,” Lance said immediately. “They all did great things with their lives. I’m proud of them.”</p><p>“Then why is it selfish for <em>you</em> to want something else?”</p><p>Lance was silent and Keith waited for him to process what he said. A single tear rolled down Lance’s cheek. Keith wanted to wipe it away, but he decided against it.</p><p>“But running away is not gonna solve anything,” Lance argued eventually.</p><p>“No, not in the long run. But it <em>does</em> give you a break. And after you’ve had a breather, you can go back to your normal life and work on changing it so you’re happy. You can find a new job, find a hobby you’re passionate about, you can even go back to school if you want.”</p><p>“But I’m scared my parents will be disappointed in me. They’re counting on me to run the company one day.”</p><p>“Are your parents disappointed in your siblings?”</p><p>“But my siblings all did-” Lance started, but Keith interrupted him.</p><p>“Are they disappointed, yes or no?” Keith asked firmly, already knowing the answer.</p><p>“No,” Lance said.</p><p>“Then there’s no reason to believe they will be disappointed in you. They will be proud of you no matter what you choose. In fact, I think they would be happy to find out you want to follow your dreams instead of just working a job you tolerate,” Keith said softly.</p><p>“Really?” Lance’s bottom lip started trembling.</p><p>“I’m sure,” Keith said.</p><p>And that’s when the dam broke. Lance let out a sob and hunched over, putting his face in his hands. The tears flowed freely now. Keith was unsure what to do for a second, but then put his arm around Lance’s shoulder. Lance immediately turned and threw himself at Keith, wrapping his arms around Keith’s torso and clutching desperately. Keith put his other arm around Lance and held him tightly. Sobs wracked Lance’s body as he cried into Keith’s shoulder. Keith didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing.</p><p>After a while, Lance’s crying went from loudly sobbing to quietly sniffling, until the tears stopped entirely. They had held on to each other the whole time. Lance looked exhausted.</p><p>“Let’s go to sleep,” Keith said softly.</p><p>They silently changed into their pajamas and slipped under the covers.</p><p>Lance was out as soon as his head hit the pillow. Keith watched his even breathing for a while, before closing his eyes and slipping into unconsciousness himself.</p><hr/><p>Keith woke up with a weight on his chest. He felt warm air moving against his neck. He opened his eyes and saw chestnut hair in his peripheral.</p><p>Lance had nestled himself against Keith’s side, his face into the crook of Keith’s neck and an arm slung over his chest. And he was fast asleep.</p><p>Keith couldn’t help a small smile. He should probably try to separate himself from Lance, but he <em>really </em>didn’t want to. Lance looked so peaceful sleeping like this. And he deserved all the sleep he could get after yesterday.</p><p>Keith decided to just wait until Lance woke up. After all, it was Lance who had come to <em>him</em>, not the other way around. And Keith was weak to deny Lance anything.</p><p>He turned his head a little, hair tickling his nose, as well as the scent of coconut shampoo. He closed his eyes and waited, completely relaxed.</p><p>After an unknown amount of time, when Keith had sort of half drifted off again, he felt Lance stir. He opened his eyes again and came face to face with Lance’s blue ones.</p><p>“Hey,” Lance said, voice barely above a whisper. He smiled. It was good to see him smile again.</p><p>“Hey,” Keith replied equally softly.</p><p>“How long have you been awake?”</p><p>“Don’t know. A while.”</p><p>“You could’ve shoved me back to my own side of the bed, I would’ve fallen right back asleep, if I even woke up at all,” Lance said.</p><p>“I didn’t want to.”</p><p>Lance’s smile grew wider. “So you don’t mind if I stay here a little longer?”</p><p>“Not at all. I kind of want you to,” Keith admitted.</p><p>Lance put his head back down and tightened his grip on Keith’s chest. Then he sighed. But it wasn’t a weary sigh, it was a relaxed one.</p><p>Keith brought the arm Lance was lying on up to hold him. “Is this okay?” he asked.</p><p>“More than okay.” Lance nuzzled his face in the crook of Keith’s neck. After a few minutes of silence, he said, “this is nice.”</p><p>“Yeah.” Keith’s voice was still just above a whisper, afraid that anything louder would break the spell.</p><p>“I’ve been thinking. The reason I went on this road trip is to do something adventurous. But yesterday I’ve just been running. So starting today, I wanna see the sights, get out of the car more, be a tourist. Can we do that?”</p><p>“We can do whatever you want,” Keith said. “This is <em>your</em> trip. I’m just here to support you. Only today, don’t be an idiot and let me drive too.”</p><p>Lance chuckled. “We’ll see. I was really pushing myself yesterday, so maybe I <em>should</em> let you drive a few hours today.”</p><p>“I know. That’s why I said I was tired. But I’m here for you, so I’ll go along with whatever you want. As long as you don’t push yourself as hard as yesterday.”</p><p>Lance was silent for a few minutes. “You know, there’s another reason I asked you instead of anyone else.”</p><p>Keith hummed, urging Lance to elaborate.</p><p>“I wanted to spend some time alone with you.” Lance lifted his head and looked at Keith.</p><p>Keith looked between Lance’s blueberry eyes. “Can I kiss you?” he whispered.</p><p>“I thought you’d never ask,” Lance said.</p><p>Lance was already moving when Keith pulled him down further and their lips met. It started out dry and closed-mouthed, but after a while, Keith felt something wet against his bottom lip. He parted his lips and their tongues lazily tangled together. It wasn’t a fiery explosion of passion, it was a slow and steady flow of passion.</p><p>Keith sighed into the kiss. This was everything he had hoped for and more. And it was certainly not what he expected after yesterday. But it was definitely a pleasant surprise. He could get used to this.</p><p>Eventually, Lance broke the kiss. “We should probably get breakfast and go before they kick us out,” he said with a smile.</p><p>“Ten more minutes?” Keith asked.</p><p>“Fine, ten minutes,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith smiled and pulled Lance back down.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I have a thing for characters asking each other if they can kiss them, especially if it's the first kiss.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Soulmates</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance was getting ready for his Valentine’s date with his husband. He looked at the suit he was gonna wear. It was a dark blue suit, with a light blue shirt underneath and a tie in a shade somewhere in the middle. Lance was gonna look so good tonight. Of course he was, he had made reservations at a fairly expensive restaurant with a well-dressed clientele. And because Keith didn’t like surprises, he had told him about it. Not that it really came as a surprise, they went there for most celebrations.</p><p>Just because Keith didn’t like big surprises, didn’t mean Lance couldn’t surprise him with little things, like the flowers he was about to go pick up. Those were surprises Keith could handle. Things that don’t impact your day as much.</p><p>Lance slapped his butt to check for his wallet and reached for his keys when he felt it. A sharp pain in his hand, around the knuckles. Immediately, his Keith senses started tingling. A few seconds later, a much stronger pain bloomed in his face, and that’s when he knew.</p><p>His soulmate was in trouble.</p><p>It felt like Keith was in a fight with someone. And judging from the increasing pain in his hands, Keith was throwing most of the punches.</p><p>The pain in his nose was almost overwhelming and Lance’s eyes teared up.</p><p>Lance tried calling Keith, but unsurprisingly, he didn’t pick up. He tried again a minute later, but again no response.</p><p>The pain had stopped increasing in his hands, so the fight was most likely over. Lance tried to calm himself down with the thought that Keith was on his way home and if he only had pain in his nose, Keith was gonna be okay.</p><p>He tried calling one last time, but it was to no avail.</p><p>Lance paced around the living room, anxiously waiting for Keith to come home.</p><p>As soon as he heard the front door open, he bolted into the hallway. He wanted to say something, but Keith beat him to it.</p><p>“Are you okay?” Keith asked, voice laced with concern.</p><p>“Of course I’m not okay. My soulmate got punched in the face,” Lance frantically responded.</p><p>“I’m so sorry, I realized too late what I had done,” Keith said.</p><p>“What happened?”</p><p>“Some guy said some racist things that I’m not gonna repeat, and I lost my temper.” Keith took Lance’s face in his hands. “I’m so sorry for what I did to you. I should’ve known better.” Keith looked at Lance for a second. “Have you been crying?”</p><p>“A little,” Lance admitted. “Because my nose fucking hurts.”</p><p>Keith had a guilty expression. “I’m so sorry,” he repeated.</p><p>“I thought you moved past this,” Lance said.</p><p>There was a period of time during their teen years where Keith would regularly get into fights, not caring about his supposed soulmate. And Lance had to deal with the consequences.</p><p>“I know, I did too. But the guy said some horrible things and I just lost it.” Keith wrapped his arms around Lance and pulled him close. “I’ll try harder next time.”</p><p>Lance returned the hug. “Did you at least beat him?” he asked.</p><p>“I did. I had him running away in a few punches. He only managed to hit me once, as you can probably tell.”</p><p>Lance pulled back. “How is your nose?”</p><p>“It’s fine.”</p><p>“I don’t believe you. Let me look.” He took a step back to look at Keith. He noticed some dried blood on Keith’s face and t-shirt. “I think we should go to the hospital to have it checked. It could be broken.”</p><p>“Lance, it’s fine, don’t worry about it.”</p><p>“Don’t lie to me when I can feel exactly what <em>you’re</em> feeling,” Lance chastised. “We’re going to the hospital.”</p><p>Lance’s tone left no room for arguments and Keith seemed to realize that. His shoulders slumped in defeat.</p><p>“Fine,” he said.</p><p>Lance quickly walked into the living room to grab his keys and then they were on their way.</p><p>A few minutes into the drive, Lance spoke up. “This isn’t how I imagined spending Valentine’s day with my husband.”</p><p>“Yeah, me neither,” Keith said.</p><p>“And I had <em>such</em> a nice dated planned for us. I was so looking forward to going to our favorite restaurant again.” Lance pouted.</p><p>“I know, sweetheart, I’m sorry.”</p><p>“I was gonna surprise you with flowers and everything. But this is probably gonna take forever and we won’t make our reservation.”</p><p>“Hey, calm down,” Keith said. “I honestly don’t care if go to an expensive restaurant or eat frozen pizza, I just want to spend time with <em>you</em>.”</p><p>“Yeah, me too. But it’s still a bummer.”</p><p>“So how about, after we’re done at the hospital, we order takeout from our favorite Korean place, and we watch a movie, and cuddle on the couch. We can get mint chocolate for you and sour cream and onion chips for me. How does that sound?”</p><p>Lance looked at Keith for a second to find him looking at him with an earnest expression.</p><p>“That sounds nice,” he said.</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. High School</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance plopped himself down in a chair behind one of the desks in the classroom. He immediately turned to Hunk and Pidge. “You wouldn’t believe the day at work I’ve had yesterday,” he said.</p><p>“Sendak give you a hard time again?” Pidge asked without looking up from her phone.</p><p>“Yes. And he was being extra moody because someone stole the big M,” Lance complained.</p><p>This made Pidge look up from her phone, but only briefly. “The big M on the pole?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Why would someone steal the McDonald’s sign?” Hunk asked.</p><p>“How should I know?” Lance said. He was about to continue complaining about yesterday when Keith walked in and all his thoughts stopped. Keith had that effect on him</p><p>Keith looked good today. He wore black ripped skinny jeans, a black t-shirt with the anarchy symbol in red, a black leather jacket, and black combat boots. It was his standard look, only the t-shirts changed prints. So he looked good every day. He also had several piercings in his ear that he pulled off extremely well. And a lip ring. Lance wondered not the first time what it would be like to kiss someone with a lip ring.</p><p>Keith’s eyes scanned the classroom and he briefly caught Lance’s gaze as he made his way to the back of the classroom.</p><p>“Hello, Earth to Lance,” Hunk said, waving his hand in front of Lance’s face.</p><p>“I’m sorry, what?” Lance said.</p><p>“Leave him, he’s daydreaming about Keith again,” Pidge said.</p><p>“Am not!” Lance exclaimed.</p><p>“Right, you just<em> happened</em> to zone out while staring at Keith,” Pidge countered.</p><p>Lance huffed. He liked to think he was being subtle with his very minor crush on Keith, but his friends had caught on a long time ago. Obviously, that was only because they knew him so well, and no one else would be able to tell.</p><p>The teacher, Mr. Smythe, walked in and cleared his throat. “Alright class, today, I’ll be assigning you a project that you will work on in duos.”</p><p>The class started murmuring.</p><p>“And <em>I’ll</em> assign the partners,” Mr. Smythe continued.</p><p>Some more murmuring and several disappointed faces and huffs went through the class before everyone quieted down again.</p><p>Mr. Smythe picked up a piece of paper and started listing duos. He seemed to have tried to make them evenly matched, with one person who was good and one who was less good. That meant that there was a chance Lance might end up with Hunk or Pidge, who were both really good, since this wasn’t his best class.</p><p>Only, something Lance hadn’t even considered happened.</p><p>“Lance and Keith,” Mr. Smythe said.</p><p>Lance kept his face carefully neutral, but on the inside, he was freaking out. He just didn’t know if he was freaking out in a good way or a bad way.</p><p>Mr. Smythe finished listing off the duos. “If you would all sit with your partner,” he said.</p><p>There was a lot of shuffling around and a moment later, Keith sat down next to Lance.</p><p>“Hey,” Lance said as casually as possible.</p><p>Keith hummed in response and jerked his head in a greeting.</p><p>Mr. Smythe walked around the classroom and passed out stapled packages of paper with the assignment on them.</p><p>The rest of the hour was spent going over the assignment.</p><p>“How about you come over to my house after school and we can decide who does what and stuff?” Keith said as they packed their stuff.</p><p>Lance nearly choked on his spit. “Yeah, sure, sounds good,” he said, but it sounded anything but casual to his own ears.</p><p>“Cool. See you then.” Keith walked off.</p><p>For Lance, the end of the school day couldn’t come soon enough.</p><hr/><p>After several long hours, the final bell was there. Lance nearly sprinted to his locker to pick up his stuff and then made his way to the front doors. He found Keith waiting there for him.</p><p>“How did you get here? Do you have a car?” Keith asked.</p><p>“Yes, but I share it with my sister, so I can’t take it to your place,” Lance responded.</p><p>“That’s okay. We can take my car. I’ll give you a ride home afterward.” Keith didn’t wait for a response and started walking to the parking lot.</p><p>Lance quickly followed him. They got in Keith’s car and were off.</p><p>Most of the ride was spent in silence, save for the music coming from the speakers. It was rock. That didn’t really surprise Lance. After about twenty minutes, they arrived at Keith’s house. They walked through the front door.</p><p>“Take off your shoes,” Keith said, taking off his boots.</p><p>Lance obliged and kicked off his sneakers.</p><p>“Let’s go to my room before my brother starts asking awkward questions.”</p><p>“What kind of questions?” Lance asked as he followed Keith upstairs. He was silently freaking out over the fact that he would be in Keith’s room. Alone.</p><p>“He feels the need to ask if they’re my boyfriend every time I invite a boy over,” Keith explained.</p><p>“Ah.” Yeah, no, better to avoid that. Lance probably wouldn’t recover from that insinuation. He was already barely managing.</p><p>They entered Keith’s room and Lance tried to casually look around. It was pretty neat, aside from some clothing on the floor. It was definitely a lot neater than Lance’s room. He turned around and next to the door was something that immediately caught his attention.</p><p>A McDonald’s M.</p><p>“What the fuck?” he exclaimed.</p><p>“What?” Keith asked.</p><p>Lance wildly gestured at the M. “Why is there a giant McDonald’s M in your room?” he asked, although he had a feeling he knew the answer.</p><p>“Oh, you know,” Keith said.</p><p>“Did you steal it? The McDonalds I work at had its M stolen two nights ago.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it,” Keith said. Like that was any help.</p><p>“How did you even get it down?” Lance couldn’t get his head around it.</p><p>“I said don’t worry about it. Are we gonna work on this assignment or what?”</p><p>Lance stared at the giant M, dumbfounded. After a few seconds, he tore his gaze away and looked at Keith. “Yeah, okay.”</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Bar</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Today was supposed to be Garrison, but Garrison AUs are not really my thing. Probably because I really don't like Iverson.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith was sitting in a bar, nursing a gin tonic. His resting bitch face kept everyone at a distance, leaving him free to ogle pretty men. The truth is, he’s had his eyes on a cute guy at the bar for a while now. He had warm brown skin and short hair a few shades darker. But his prettiest feature was his blinding smile. Keith had seen it at work when Cute Guy was talking to a woman a while ago. He has a weakness for cute guys with pretty smiles.</p><p>Cute Guy was alone now, also sipping on a cocktail. Keith has been trying to work up the courage to go talk to him for what must have been at least fifteen minutes, but each time he was about to get up and make a move, he lost his nerve at the last second. He was not very good at flirting and he was afraid he’d make a fool of himself.</p><p>And it seemed he had lost his chance because another guy walked up to Cute Guy and greeted him. This guy was obviously drunk, with the way he was swaying on his feet. They started talking and Cute Guy threw him one of his blinding smiles. Keith felt his insides flutter, even if the smile was not meant for him.</p><p>Keith’s mood soured instantly. He knew he had no claim over Cute Guy, but he still didn’t want anyone else flirting with him. Just because he was too afraid, didn’t mean he didn’t want to talk to Cute Guy. And now he had to watch as someone else made a move on Cute Guy. And because Keith was a masochist, he kept watching.</p><p>Drunk Guy stepped in closer and Cute Guy’s posture stiffened. This put Keith on edge. Drunk Guy, however, seemed oblivious to this. That, or he didn’t care. Either way, he didn’t back away and leaned in to say something to Cute Guy. Keith couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was obvious that Cute Guy was not comfortable with whatever Drunk Guy had said if the way his face fell was anything to go by. Drunk Guy put his hand on the small of Cute Guy’s back and pretty much pressed himself against his side. Cute Guy squirmed under the touch and leaned away, but Drunk Guy just leaned in closer.</p><p>Keith didn’t like this at all. And not because he was jealous. If anything, his jealousy was gone now that he saw Drunk Guy was completely disrespecting Cute Guy’s boundaries. There was no need to be jealous of someone who didn’t stand a chance in the long run.</p><p>He took his drink and made his way over to the bar, standing close by enough so he could hear what they were saying.</p><p>“I want to be alone,” Cute Guy said, his tone polite but firm. There was not a trace left of the playfulness Keith had seen him display earlier in the evening.</p><p>But Drunk Guy didn’t listen, which didn’t surprise Keith at all. “Come on, baby, don’t be like that. A pretty little thing like you shouldn’t be alone,” he said.</p><p>Keith felt his blood boil.</p><p>“Don’t call me baby. And will you please stop touching me?” Cute Guy said.</p><p>“I know you secretly like it,” Drunk Guy said. “If you come with me, I can touch you somewhere else too.”</p><p>Cute Guy physically recoiled at that one.</p><p>That’s when Keith snapped. He made his way over there in two steps and forcefully put himself between the two, shoving Drunk Guy away. “He said <em>leave him alone</em>,” Keith shouted.</p><p>It took Drunk Guy a few seconds to recover. “What’s your problem?” he said.</p><p>“<em>You</em> are my problem. He clearly doesn’t like you.” Keith glared at Drunk Guy with as much aggression as he could.</p><p>Drunk Guy held his hands up. “Relax, it’s just some harmless flirting.”</p><p>“It stopped being harmless when you ignored his boundaries and wouldn’t leave him alone.”</p><p>“Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do about it?” Drunk Guy said. He tried to make himself intimidating and stepped into Keith’s space.</p><p>“You don’t wanna find out,” Keith growled. He knew that he could take this guy in a fight. He just hoped Drunk Guy knew it too and it wouldn’t come to that. He didn’t want to do that to Cute Guy.</p><p>After a few seconds of staring, Drunk Guy backed away. “Whatever, he’s a frigid bitch anyway,” he said and he walked away.</p><p>Keith turned around to face Cute Guy, just in time to see the tension bleed out of his shoulders. He was standing really close to him, a result of separating him from Drunk Guy, so he stepped back to give him some space. “Are you okay?” he asked.</p><p>“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks,” Cute Guy said.</p><p>“No problem. I saw the whole thing and I just couldn’t do nothing.”</p><p>“Well, I owe you one. I’m Lance, by the way.”</p><p>“Keith.”</p><p>“Well Keith, let me buy you a drink. As a thank you,” Lance said.</p><p>“You don’t have to, it’s fine.”</p><p>“I insist. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know what I would have done to get rid of that guy. Besides, you’re way better looking than him.” Lance winked.</p><p>Keith flushed, but he was glad the playfulness was back.</p><p>“Sit down and accept my gratitude,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith sat down on the empty barstool next to Lance’s. “Alright, one drink,” he said.</p><p>“Nice.” Lance waved at the bartender. “One piña colada, please.” He turned to Keith. “And what do you want?”</p><p>“Gin tonic.”</p><p>The drinks were placed in front of them.</p><p>“So, are you here by yourself?” Lance asked. There was a suggestiveness to his tone.</p><p>“Yes. I like to come here to look at pretty men,” Keith said.</p><p>“Anyone catch your eye yet?”</p><p>“Let’s just say there’s a reason I saw the whole thing happening,” Keith admitted.</p><p>Lance’s blinding smile was back, and this time, it was directed at Keith. Up close it looked even better. “I’m flattered,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith smiled back. “What about you?” he asked.</p><p>“I like to meet nice people. People who will respect my boundaries and help me when needed,” Lance said. He looked coyly at Keith. “I’d say I’ve succeeded tonight.”</p><p>It ended up being more than one drink.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Disney</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith was reading a book and Lance was scrolling through his phone when Lance spoke up.</p><p>“Wanna go to Disneyland?”</p><p>Keith looked up from his book at Lance. “Sure,” he said.</p><p>“I’m craving their lime chicken bao,” Lance said. He had already put his phone away and stood up.</p><p>“You and your cravings.” Keith chuckled.</p><p>“I can’t help it. If I have it in my mind that I want to eat something, I <em>need</em> to eat it or it won’t leave me alone. You know this.”</p><p>Keith smiled at Lance. “I know. Let me just finish this chapter first.”</p><p>“Fine,” Lance said with mock impatience.</p><p>Finishing the chapter took longer than expected, and the whole time, Lance was fidgeting. Now that plans for Disneyland were made, he had trouble sitting still. Just because he was willing to wait for Keith, didn’t mean he was good at it. Keith quickly checked how many pages were left in the chapter and decided that, yes, Lance could wait that long.</p><p>After finishing, Keith put his bookmark in place and set the book down on the coffee table.</p><p>“You done?” Lance asked before Keith could say anything.</p><p>“Yes,” Keith responded.</p><p>“Sweet.” Lance jumped up and ran upstairs.</p><p>Keith had a feeling he knew what Lance was doing upstairs. And less than a minute later, Lance returned with his Minnie ears perched on his head.</p><p>“Can’t go to Disneyland without the ears, of course,” Lance said, beaming with excitement.</p><p>“Of course,” Keith deadpanned. He rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help the fond smile. It was endearing how Lance would still be filled with childlike excitement at age twenty-five.</p><p>“One of these days I’m gonna convince you to wear a pair of your own,” Lance said.</p><p>“Not gonna happen.”</p><p>“That’s what you said about the moisturizer, and look at you know.” Lance touched Keith’s cheek, something between a caress and a pat. “Your skin is baby soft.”</p><p>“This is different.”</p><p>“The trick with you is that you have to get used to the idea first. That, and wearing you down will often help.”</p><p>Keith scoffed.</p><p>“You can try and deny it, but that’s how it works with you. I’ve known you long enough now,” Lance continued.</p><p>Keith didn’t respond. He knew denying it would be useless, seeing how Lance was right. Still, Keith tried his hardest to let this be the thing where he <em>wouldn’t </em>eventually give in.</p><p>“Alright, let’s go!” Lance exclaimed. He grabbed Keith’s arm and yanked him off the couch.</p><p>About forty minutes later, they were at the entrance of Disneyland. They had a pass, so they could walk right in. Lance practically skipped through the park, dragging Keith to all his favorite spots. Keith was happy to let Lance take the lead. He liked Disneyland well enough, but he doubted he would go if it weren’t for Lance’s unbridled enthusiasm. That was Keith’s favorite part about going to Disneyland. Or going <em>anywhere</em> with Lance, really.</p><p>“Let’s go to Snow White’s Wishing Well. I wanna make a wish,” Lance said, already bouncing off in the direction of Snow White’s Grotto.</p><p>Keith smiled and followed Lance.</p><p>When they made it there, Lance pulled out his wallet and took out a dime. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before throwing the coin the well.</p><p>“What did you wish for?” Keith asked.</p><p>“I’m not gonna tell you that, then it won’t come true,” Lance said. “Now <em>you</em> make a wish.”</p><p>Keith couldn’t say no to Lance when he looked at him with such hopeful eyes, so he took a coin out of his wallet and held it over the well.</p><p>Only, he didn’t know what to wish for. He had everything he could ask for in life. The most wonderful boyfriend anyone could ever ask for, a dog and two cats he adored, a nice house, nice friends, a job he really liked. He was happy.</p><p>In the end, he decided to wish that nothing would change. He threw the coin in the well. Then he looked at Lance and found him smiling.</p><p>“How about we go to the Tropical Hideaway for my bao? I’m getting hungry,” Lance said.</p><p>“Sounds good.”</p><p>Lance took Keith’s hand and they walked to the restaurant together.</p><p>Once there, Lance opened the Disneyland app on his phone and ordered their food. Lance went for the lime chicken bao, of course, and Keith decided to go for the traditional pork lumpia. After waiting for a little bit, their food was ready. They sat down on a bench near the restaurant to eat.</p><p>Lance took his first bite and the face he made looked orgasmic. He made a sound close to a moan. “I will never get enough of these,” he said.</p><p>Keith smiled for what must have been the hundredth time that night. He would never grow tired of seeing a happy Lance. He bit into his own food.</p><p>They finished their food soon after, having spent the meal in near complete-silence.</p><p>“Wanna stick around for the firework show?” Lance asked.</p><p>Keith took one look at Lance’s face and knew the answer. “Yeah, sure.”</p><p>They spent the next few hours wandering around the park, going on a ride or two. It was too late to take any pictures with characters, which Lance was bummed about. They usually came in the evening when it was quieter, but Keith made a mental note to himself to take Lance to Disneyland during the day some time soon, so he could take pictures with characters.</p><p>It was almost time for the firework show, so they headed for Sleeping Beauty’s castle to find a spot. There were already a fair few people waiting, but they managed to find a nice spot for themselves.</p><p>Lance was practically vibrating with excitement. Keith couldn’t keep his eyes off him, he looked so adorable.</p><p>Lance caught his gaze. “What?” he asked.</p><p>Keith smiled again. “Nothing. I just love you.” He wrapped his arms around Lance and pulled him against his chest.</p><p>Lance smiled back. “Aww, I love you too,” he said and leaned in for a kiss.</p><p>Their lips barely brushed when the first firework went off. Lance’s head shot up to look at them, but thankfully, he didn’t let go. They watched the fireworks show together, in each other’s arms. Lance full of childlike wonder. And if he was being honest, Keith was more busy watching Lance’s face light up than the colors in the sky.</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Neighbor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Today was supposed to be Thunderpike, but I don't know what that is, and googling didn't help, so I made it a neighbor AU instead.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance was sprawled across the couch, watching tv, when he heard the front door open and close. Seconds later, Keith walked into the living room, wearing sweatpants, an old t-shirt, and no shoes. He rarely wore shoes when he came over to hang out. After all, he only had to take a few steps down the hallway from his apartment to Lance’s.</p><p>“Hey,” Keith said.</p><p>“Sup,” Lance replied. He didn’t know why Keith was here. It was probably one of two reasons. He often showed up unannounced, but Lance didn’t mind. In fact, he did the same to Keith.</p><p>Lance pulled in his legs so Keith could sit down on the couch. Keith immediately slumped and let out an exhausted sigh.</p><p>“Rough day?” Lance said.</p><p>“Yeah,” Keith said. He ran a hand through his hair. “I had this customer that just <em>would not</em> shut up. He went on and on about how I’m supposed to do my job. Like, sir, I’ve worked here for three years now, I think I know what I’m doing.”</p><p>Lance chuckled.</p><p>“It’s not funny. At least he didn’t call for the manager.” Keith let his head fall back against the backrest.</p><p>“Aww, poor you,” Lance said, though not entirely without sarcasm. “Want some of Hunk’s cookies?”</p><p>“Yes, please,” Keith said, voice small.</p><p>Lance went to the kitchen to grab the container of cookies he got from Hunk the other day. They’re his favorite, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. When he returned, he saw that Keith was flipping through Netflix.</p><p>“Hey, I was watching something,” Lance said.</p><p>“Not very dedicated if you left it running when you left the room,” Keith countered.</p><p>Lance sat down on the couch and put the container of cookies between them. “You have Netflix at home.”</p><p>“I wanted some company.”</p><p>Ah, so he was here for the first reason. Though maybe the second would come later.</p><p>Keith put on a documentary about ancient Egypt that Lance only half paid attention to, the other half of his attention on his phone. In no time, the cookies were all gone. Neither of them was known for their self-control, so that came as no surprise. Keith would occasionally comment on whatever was happening on the screen. Something about aliens that Lance wasn’t entirely sure was even relevant to this particular documentary.</p><p>The documentary was over. Keith turned off the tv and stretched. His t-shirt rode up a little, revealing a strip of abdomen. Then he turned to Lance. “Are you horny?” he asked.</p><p>There was the second reason.</p><p>“Not really. But you probably wouldn’t have to try hard,” Lance replied. Keith never had to try hard.</p><p>“Good,” Keith said. He stood up and grabbed Lance’s hand, yanking him to his feet. They made their way to Lance’s bedroom.</p><p>And then they fucked. There was no other word for it. No emotions were involved, no romantic gestures or affectionate touches. There was nothing romantic about it, only pleasure. Just two friends having fun together.</p><p>Lance still remembered how it all started months back. They were hanging out, and at one point, Keith had complained about being horny. Lance jokingly-or-not-jokingly-depending-on-the-reaction offered to take care of it, and things took off from there. Now they regularly had sex. Not that that’s all their relationship was about, most of the times they hung out, they didn’t have sex. But sometimes, they had needs, and neither of them had a relationship, so it only made sense. What’s a little sex between friends, right?</p><p>After they both reached their climax, they were lying side by side on Lance’s bed, catching their breath, the sweat on their bodies cooling.</p><p>Lance looked over at Keith and saw him looking at him intently. Sometimes, Keith would look at him with a look on his face, look at his lips, almost as if he might kiss him. But he never did, he always pulled away. Kissing would be dangerously close to romantic territory. So they never kissed, but <em>god</em> did Lance want to. But that’s a line he never dared to cross, no matter how desperately he wanted to. So he was slightly disappointed but not at all surprised when Keith pulled away again this time.</p><p>Keith sat up, stretching his back. “That was good,” he said.</p><p>“Yeah,” Lance replied. He already knew what was gonna happen, and he didn’t want it to happen.</p><p>Keith got off the bed and started searching for his clothes. “I should probably head home, it’s getting late.”</p><p>They never stayed in the bedroom after sex. They often went to their respective homes or at least went back to the living room. No post-coital cuddling, that would be too romantic. Another line they hadn’t crossed. But Lance wanted to so badly.</p><p>“Hey Keith,” Lance spoke up.</p><p>“Hmm,” Keith hummed as he started putting on his clothes.</p><p>“You don’t have to go home,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith paused. “But it’s only a few steps,” he said.</p><p>“I know, but…” Lance trailed off.</p><p>“But what?”</p><p>“Stay with me. Please.” Lance asked, hoping against all hope. He braced himself for the reaction. He knew he had crossed the line and there was no going back now.</p><p>Keith thought about it for a long moment. Then he put his clothes back on the floor. “Okay,” he said softly. He climbed back in bed.</p><p>For the next few minutes, they both lay on their side, facing each other, in silence. Lance searched Keith’s face. For what, he didn’t know. Maybe a sign that Keith also wanted more. Lance knew Keith well enough to know he wouldn’t have agreed if he didn’t want this.</p><p>Lance couldn’t stand this. This was miles better than what usually happened, but it was still nowhere near what he wanted. He reached out. “Can I touch you?” he asked.</p><p>Keith nodded.</p><p>Lance carefully trailed his hand over Keith’s chest before setting it at his waist. They were no stranger to touching each other’s bodies, but never so gently, so lovingly. This was so much more intimate than any sex they’ve had. He pulled Keith closer and Keith complied. They were almost chest to chest, their faces a mere inch apart. He wrapped his arm around Keith’s back and Keith did the same.</p><p>Lance felt like he could burst at any moment. Now that he’s had a taste of this, he had to have more. “Kiss me,” he whispered.</p><p>Keith complied and a moment later, their lips collided. It was desperate, like they had been waiting for this their whole life. Now that the line had been crossed, there was no sense in holding back. They licked and bit and sucked until they were both out and breath and then they kept going. They kept going until eventually, their kisses slowed and their eyelids drooped and their breathing evened out. Until Keith fell asleep and Lance there watching him, more content than he had felt in a long time.</p><p>What did this mean for their relationship? Lance didn’t know. They would have to talk about it in the morning. Were they boyfriends now? They definitely were more than just friends with benefits. Maybe lovers was the most accurate term. Yeah, Lance liked that. Lovers. Important to each other but at the same time not as defined as boyfriends. Not that Lance would be opposed to dating, he just didn’t know how Keith felt about it. He would find out in the morning.</p><p>After a while, Lance fell asleep too with a smile on his face and Keith in his arms.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Tattoo Artist</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance was nervous. Like, really fucking nervous. He was waiting on a chair, his leg bouncing like crazy and his fingers fidgeting with the sleeves of his jacket.</p><p>“Lance,” Keith said as he walked up to him. “You’re here.” He was wearing a tank top that showed off his tattoo sleeves nicely, and a few of the tattoos on his chest peaked out as well. He had a tablet in his hand.</p><p>“Yeah,” Lance said weakly. He titled his head up when Keith leaned in for a quick kiss.</p><p>“Are you ready for your first tattoo?”</p><p>“As ready as I’ll ever be.”</p><p>Keith took Lance’s hand. “It’s not as bad as you probably think it is. I wouldn’t have covered myself in tattoos if it was that bad.”</p><p>“You’re a masochist though,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith chuckled. “Maybe a little. But trust me, it’s not that bad, especially not on your forearm.” He showed Lance the tablet. “So this is the final design. I tweaked the O a little, like you asked. What do you think?”</p><p>Lance looked at the image on the tablet. It looked really nice, exactly what he had in mind. “Looks good. I like it. I’m ready to have that on my body for the rest of my life,” he said and it was only half a joke.</p><p>“If you’re worried about regretting it later in life, I highly doubt you will regret this. And we have a philosophy about regretting tattoos here. Whether you would still get the tattoo later in life or not, apparently it’s important enough for you to have it tattooed now, so you don’t need to regret it.”</p><p>“That makes sense,” Lance said.</p><p>“Good. Let me print it out and we can decide on a size.” Keith started walking away again.</p><p>“You already know how I want it.”</p><p>“Yes, but you haven’t seen it in that size yet.” Keith disappeared from Lance’s view.</p><p>Lance anxiously waited for Keith’s return.</p><p>Not even a minute later, Keith returned with a sheet of paper. On it was the design in three different sizes. “Which one do you like most?” Keith asked.</p><p>Lance looked for a second. “The middle one,” he said.</p><p>“Okay,” Keith said and he was gone again. When he returned, he had cut out the design. “Hold it up to your arm.”</p><p>Lance took off his jacket and set it down on the chair next to him. He took the paper and held it up to his forearm. It looked exactly like he wanted it.</p><p>“Is this size you want?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Excellent. Come with me.” Keith motioned to follow him and started walking.</p><p>Lance quickly got up and followed Keith. They walked to Keith’s station. Lance had seen it a bunch of times on the few occasions he visited Keith at work. But never in this situation and it was kind of daunting. Keith opened a drawer and retrieved a razor. He motioned for Lance to come closer. Lance held his arm out and Keith gently shaved the area where the tattoo would be. Lance suddenly felt lightheaded.</p><p>“I think I need to sit down,” he said, his voice panicky.</p><p>Keith immediately looked worried. “Sit down on that chair.” He pointed at a chair behind Lance.</p><p>Lance sat down and took a couple of deep breaths, hoping the lightheadedness would fade. It did somewhat, but he didn’t trust himself to stand up again.</p><p>“Are you good to keep going?” Keith asked, voice full of concern.</p><p>“Yeah, as long as I don’t have to stand,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith seemed a little less worried at that. He started twisting his torso and arm at odd angles while he muttered to himself.</p><p>Lance snorted. “What are you doing?” he asked.</p><p>“I’m trying to decide which position would be best. I think it’s best if you lie down on your side and hold your arm out like this,” Keith said while demonstrating.</p><p>“I have to hold my arm out the whole time?”</p><p>“Your arm will rest on a surface. You don’t have to hold it up the whole time.” Keith grabbed a paper towel and put some sort of liquid on it. “Let me disinfect your arm,” he said.</p><p>Lance held up his arm again. The disinfectant was cold and it smelled chemical. Then Keith put a stencil on Lance’s arm, leaving the design behind on the skin.</p><p>“Can you stand up long enough to walk over to the station?” Keith asked.</p><p>“I think so.” Lance stood up and took a few steps until he was next to the tattooing chair. Keith had his arms out the whole time, ready to catch him. He sat down and waited for instruction.</p><p>“Lie on your side,” Keith instructed.</p><p>Lance did as he was told. “I’m glad I get to lie down, makes the chance I’ll pass out a lot smaller.”</p><p>Keith chuckled. “Don’t worry, you’re not the first person who gets lightheaded and you won’t be the last.” He wheeled over a small table with a towel on it and put it next to the chair. “Put your arm on this.”</p><p>Lance again did as he was told. Keith gathered his hair behind his head to put it in a small ponytail. If Lance wasn’t lightheaded already, he certainly would be now. He didn’t get to see Keith with a ponytail often, but he found it incredibly sexy. “Looks good,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith smiled. He put on some black latex gloves. Lance’s heart started beating faster. Keith picked up the tattoo gun. “Let me know if you need to take a break or anything. Are you ready?” he asked.</p><p>Lance nodded. He didn’t trust his voice anymore.</p><p>The tattoo gun started buzzing. “Alright, here we go.” Keith carefully lowered the gun to Lance’s skin.</p><p>Lance braced himself for whatever he would feel. The needle made contact with his skin and he was super proud of himself for not flinching. It hurt, of course, but what he didn’t expect it that he could also feel the vibrations of the gun. It was definitely a strange sensation. But it wasn’t the worst, he could easily take this for an hour.</p><p>He very quickly had to eat his words because as time went by, the pain started to wear him down. It started hurting more and more. But fortunately, as he grew used to the feeling, and the tension of the unknown was gone, the lightheadedness faded away.</p><p>Suddenly, the vibrations stopped. “Are you doing okay?” Keith asked. “You’re making a face.”</p><p>“It hurts,” Lance admitted.</p><p>“You’re doing great. Not even a twitch. I’m proud of you,” Keith said with a smile.</p><p>“Thanks.” Lance weakly smiled back.</p><p>“Do you need a break?”</p><p>“No, I just want it to be over with. So keep going.”</p><p>“Alright.” Keith continued tattooing.</p><p>As he got closer to the wrist, it started hurting more too. Lance closed his eyes and grit his teeth. It would all be worth it, just a little longer.</p><p>After about an hour of tattooing, the tattoo was done. Keith wiped away the last of the ink and sat back, looking pleased with himself. “We’re done. Wanna go take a look at it?” Keith asked.</p><p>Lance shakily sat up. He took a deep breath to steady himself. He stood up and walked over to the full-length mirror on the wall. Keith followed closely.</p><p>Lance held his arm up, the words ‘I am enough’ staring back at him, mirrored. His face broke out in a wide smile.</p><p>He got this tattoo for a reason. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had told him he’s a lot to handle. In part because of his ADHD. And he couldn’t really blame them, he knew he was a lot. But even people he’s dated told him he was <em>too much</em>.</p><p>“I will never be too much or not enough for the right person,” Lance said. It’s a mantra he had to repeat to himself many times until he started believing it.</p><p>“You certainly won’t,” Keith said. He wrapped an arm around Lance’s waist and pressed a kiss to the side of his neck.</p><p>Lance had found that person in Keith. Keith <em>never</em> complained about Lance being too much. He never complained about his moods or his hyperactivity. He accepted him and loved him completely. All of him. And they haven’t even been dating a year, but Lance could picture himself spending the rest of his life with Keith.</p><p>“What do you think?”</p><p>“I love it. It’s perfect.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was heavily inspired by my own experience getting my tattoo, including the design of the tattoo, but minus the romantic part.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Royalty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance pulled his cloak tighter around himself. Sneaking out of the palace was easy, he had done it a thousand times and would do it a thousand more if he needed to, but he still had to be careful. He was allowed to leave the palace any time he wanted, but as a prince, he’d need to have guards accompany him wherever he went, and that’s precisely what he didn’t want. He wanted privacy.</p><p>When he had successfully sneaked past the guards, he relaxed. Now it was just a short walk through the city to get where he wanted to be. His cloak concealed his expensive looking clothes, even if the cloak was also expensive looking. He kept his head down so he wouldn’t attract any unwanted attention.</p><p>He stopped in front of a small house and knocked on the door. The door opened and Lance’s day was made. “Keith,” he said with a smile.</p><p>Keith stood in the door opening, his face lit up with a smile as well. “Lance,” he responded. He quickly pulled Lance into the house and closed the door. Then he kissed Lance sweetly.</p><p>Lance eagerly returned the kiss. Until someone else pointedly cleared their throat. They broke the kiss and Lance saw Shiro looking at them with a fond smile. “Shiro, I didn’t see you there,” Lance said.</p><p>“No doubt you were busy with other things, Your Highness,” Shiro responded.</p><p>“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Lance?”</p><p>“You know I’d rather not.” Shiro was always one for the rules.</p><p>“We’re going to the bedroom,” Keith suddenly said. He took Lance’s hand and pulled him along to the only bedroom in the house. When the bedroom door was closed, Keith immediately started fumbling with Lance’s cloak.</p><p>Lance took over and took off his cloak with ease. He sat down on Keith’s bed and pulled Keith down with him, so Keith was straddling him. He cupped Keith’s face and pulled him down to resume kissing.</p><p>“I missed you,” Keith said between kisses, their lips brushing as he spoke.</p><p>“I missed you too,” Lance said. Being a prince meant having duties, and those duties kept him from seeing Keith every day, unfortunately. He just got back from a diplomatic trip to a neighboring country, meaning they hadn’t seen each other for over a week.</p><p>Keith wrapped his arms around Lance’s neck and pulled him closer. Lance brought his hands down to put them on the small of Keith’s back. Their lips moved together with practiced ease, their tongues tangling together with heated passion. As always, when they were separated for a significant amount of time, they came crashing back together.</p><p>After a while, when they had calmed down and their thirst for physical intimacy had been quenched, they lay side by side on the bed. Both in various states of undress, they held each other close, leaving soft, lingering kisses and talking about their time apart.</p><p>“I’m getting hungry. Wanna visit the market?” Lance asked. He felt Keith’s breath against his lips as he responded.</p><p>“Sure. It’s probably about time for lunch,” Keith said.</p><p>They slowly got off the bed, trading some more kisses and touches. Lance undressed himself completely, while Keith redressed himself. Lance walked over to Keith’s dresser and pulled out the outfit he always wore when he explored the city with Keith. Something commoners wore, so he wouldn’t stand out. He quickly put it on and they were on their way.</p><p>They strolled toward the market at a leisurely pace, their hands locked together. Lance loved going to the market. It was a place bustling with activity in a way so unlike the palace. The palace was all strict order and clean lines, the market was chaos and variety. He could always find wonderful things at the market, and he wanted to buy everything, but Keith often stopped him. For one, because it would stand out if a commoner started handing out heaps of money and the point was to keep a low profile. So he had a rule that he could only buy one thing per visit, aside from meals.</p><p>Upon arriving at the market, they made their way straight to Hunk’s stand. He sold the best food in the entire city, so it was their go-to place for a meal.</p><p>“Keith, Lance,” Hunk greeted. “Nice to see you. Lance, I haven’t seen you at all last week.”</p><p>“No, I had <em>business</em>,” Lance said.</p><p>“Ah,” Hunk said, understanding.</p><p>“So, what do you have on the menu today?” Lance asked.</p><p>Hunk listed all the different things he had, which weren’t many, but they all looked equally appetizing, so it was still a difficult decision.</p><p>“I’ll take that one,” Keith said while pointing.</p><p>“Make that two, please,” Lance said.</p><p>Hunk handed them their meals and Lance paid. Keith frowned like he always did.</p><p>“What’s that frowny face for?” Lance asked though he knew the answer.</p><p>“I don’t like taking advantage of you,” Keith said.</p><p>Lance resisted the urge to sigh. They had had this conversation a hundred times by now, but Lance would just keep repeating himself until Keith believed him. “You’re not taking advantage of me. I’m paying for your food because I <em>want</em> to because I <em>love</em> you. It’s not like I’ll miss the money. Besides, when we get married and-”</p><p>“<em>If</em> we get married,” Keith corrected.</p><p>“<em>When</em> we get married,” Lance insisted, “and you come live in the palace with me, your life will be a lot more luxurious than a meal from the market. No matter how good Hunk’s meals are.”</p><p>“But that’s different. I’ll have duties to the kingdom and be a member of the royal family. Now you’re paying for me all the time and I’m not doing anything in return.”</p><p>“You <em>are</em> doing something in return. You’re making me feel loved, and that’s all I’m asking you to do,” Lance said softly. He brought his hand up to cup Keith’s face.</p><p>Keith leaned into the touch. “Loving you is easy, it doesn’t feel like a proper payback for all the money you’ve spent on me,” he said.</p><p>“That’s the thing about love, it doesn’t need to be an equal exchange. You don’t <em>need</em> to pay me back for all the things I’ve done for you, because that’s not how love works. Love is giving when the other needs it and they’ll give you when <em>you</em> need it. You might not pay me back in money, but you’re paying me back in other ways.”</p><p>“Still, I’ll feel better about if we’re actually married.”</p><p>“<em>When</em> we’re married,” Lance repeated.</p><p>“How can you be so sure we’ll be allowed to marry? You will have to change the law to be able to marry a commoner,” Keith said.</p><p>“Because I won’t settle for anyone else. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and you’re the only one I want to marry. I won’t let the law stand in the way of our happiness.”</p><p>“Aww,” Hunk said.</p><p>Keith and Lance looked at him. Lance had completely forgotten he was there too.</p><p>Hunk slapped his hand over his mouth. “Sorry, I’m ruining the moment,” he said.</p><p>Lance chuckled. “It’s okay, buddy.” He looked over at Keith and saw him smiling too. “How about we find a nice place to sit so we can watch people while eating this?” he asked. Another reason Lance liked to go to the market. He could watch people all day long and never get bored.</p><p>“Okay,” Keith said.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Actors</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith was sitting on the couch in Allura’s penthouse. Season five of their show aired today on Netflix, and as was tradition, they held a watch party where they got together and binged the entire season. Allura even live-tweeted the whole thing, so their fans could join in on the fun too. It was always a lot of fun.</p><p>Next to him, Pidge took up most of the couch. But that didn’t matter because Allura’s penthouse was fucking huge, and she had plenty of seating so everyone could sit. Everyone, except for one person, apparently.</p><p>“Oh no!” Lance exclaimed dramatically. “There are no more places to sit. Whatever shall I do?” He promptly plopped himself down sideways on Keith’s lap.</p><p>It’s a good thing Keith had set his beer down on the side table, or he might have dropped it in surprise.</p><p>“Pidge, don’t be rude, make room for Lance,” Allura reprimanded.</p><p>“No need, I like this seat better,” Lance said and he draped his arms over Keith’s shoulders. He tucked in his legs and leaned fully into Keith’s chest.</p><p>Keith felt his face heating up. While their characters were meant to be canon from the start and became a thing in season three, their off-screen romance had only recently started blossoming, and Keith was still unused to Lance’s affections, especially in public. The way he so easily initiated physical intimacy, even the casual, non-sexual touches, is something that Keith still had to learn. Not that he was any better at the emotional stuff, he still had to learn that too. And Lance often voiced his feelings, so he wanted to learn quickly because he didn’t want Lance to think he didn’t care.</p><p>Keith put an arm around Lance’s back, settling his hand on Lance’s waist, and tried not to think about what the others might think about all this PDA. Would it be too much if he set his other hand on Lance’s thigh? It would be easiest, otherwise, his arm would be awkwardly at his side the whole time. So he did it. Unsurprisingly, no one said anything about it as no one paid attention to them anymore, but Keith still felt relief. It did, however, make Lance smile at him, so it was definitely the right decision.</p><p>After Allura made sure everyone had something to drink and there were plenty of snacks, she put on the first episode of the season. Everyone knew how the story went, of course, but no one had seen it in its entirety, with special effects and all, so it was still new to them in a way. The familiar opening sequence started, and everyone watched with rapt attention.</p><p>Keith cringed inwardly as his character appeared on screen. He would never get used to seeing himself and hearing himself. He loved acting, and he wouldn’t stop because of this, but this was definitely his least favorite part of the job. He never watched anything he was in more than once.  But with these watch parties, he got used to it over time. Not that that lasted until next time, next season he would have to get used to it all over again.</p><p>When the first romantic scene between his character and Lance’s character came and they were about to kiss, he had to look away for a second. He found Lance looking at him already with a soft smile.</p><p>“What?” Keith whispered, not wanting to disturb the others.</p><p>“Nothing, you’re just pretty,” Lance whispered back.</p><p>Keith felt his face heating up again.</p><p>“Aww, did I fluster you?” Lance teased.</p><p>“Shut up,” Keith said. He averted his eyes and ended up looking at his hand on Lance’s thigh.</p><p>“Don’t worry, it’s cute.”</p><p>Keith smiled bashfully.</p><p>“You’re cute when you’re shy,” Lance said. “And when you’re not shy. You’re just always cute.”</p><p>“Not as cute as you,” Keith managed.</p><p>“Thank you for the compliment, but I’m gonna have to disagree with you. You’re clearly the cutest person here.”</p><p>Keith looked up at Lance. Lance’s grip around Keith’s shoulders tightened. It seemed like they had the same idea because they simultaneously closed the gap between their lips. They didn’t often kiss in front of others. At least not outside of their roles. Their characters kissed a handful of times in season five and some more times in previous seasons, so in reality, they had kissed each other dozens of times in front of a whole crew of people, and now for the whole world to see. But that was different. That was when someone was paying them for it. This one was all theirs.</p><p>It was just a brief kiss, closed-mouthed, before Keith pulled away again. That was all he dared in front of others. But he didn’t look away. Because Lance was way too beautiful for that. Lance was far more interesting than whatever was happening on the screen. Lance moved his hand up to cup Keith’s face and Keith leaned into the touch. Lance pressed another quick kiss to Keith’s lips before touching their forehead together.</p><p>“You make me so happy,” Lance said.</p><p>Keith was silent for a solid thirty seconds before it occurred to him that he should probably reply to that. “You make me happy too,” he said. He was never good with words, but this one was nice and simple.</p><p>Lance giggled and it was the most beautiful sound in the world.</p><p>“Hey boys,” came from behind the couch.</p><p>They abruptly pulled apart and looked at the source of the sound. It was Allura.</p><p>“Sorry to interrupt the moment, but I was wondering if you were okay with me posting this picture,” she said. She showed her phone and on it was a picture of Keith and Lance making heart-eyes at each other. They looked completely lost in each other, and honestly, that’s what they were the past few minutes. “The fans would love it.”</p><p>“Yeah, sure, fine by me,” Lance said. “Keith?”</p><p>“Okay,” Keith responded. He appreciated that Allura asked them before posting.</p><p>Allura made her way back to her own spot.</p><p>“You’re really okay with it?” Lance asked. “You’re usually so shy about others seeing us together.”</p><p>“I might be awkward about it, but I want the world to know how much you mean to me,” Keith said.</p><p>“That might be the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me,” Lance said. He looked like he was about to burst with happiness.</p><p>“Yeah, well...”</p><p>“Guys, shut up and watch the show,” Pidge hissed.</p><p>Keith frowned at her, but Lance didn’t let it dampen his mood and he smiled brightly. So Keith decided not to let it dampen his mood either. He moved his hand off Lance’s thigh and to his waist so he was encircling Lance with his arms. He held Lance tightly and continued watching the show.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Coffee Shop</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith was having a great time, and it looked like Lance was having a great time too. This vacation to Amsterdam was a really good idea. And it was only the second day. The first day they didn’t do much, resting from traveling and settling into their hotel room. But now that they were settled, the fun could begin. They just visited the Rijksmuseum and the art in there was fantastic. Keith loved to study artists of all cultures, and now that they were in the Netherlands, it was a great way to study Dutch and European artists.</p><p>“I could really go for some coffee, fight off that jetlag,” Lance said.</p><p>“Okay,” Keith said. “I’ll look up a coffee shop around here.” He pulled out his phone.</p><p>“No, I wanna ask a local.” Lance looked around. “Who looks like a local to you?”</p><p>“Fuck if I know,” Keith said. He also started looking around but he had no idea what he was looking for.</p><p>“Maybe her,” Lance said, pointing at a woman who was looking at her phone. He started walking briskly in her direction. “Excuse me, miss,” he called out.</p><p>The woman looked up from her phone and noticed them approaching.</p><p>“We were looking for a good coffee shop. Do you know any?” Lance asked.</p><p>“Oh yeah, for sure,” the woman said. She gave them the name and directions in almost accent-less English. That’s a thing Keith noticed about the Dutch, they were all really good at English compared to other countries he’s visited.</p><p>“Thank you very much,” Lance said.</p><p>The woman had a smile on her face, but it wasn’t a friendly smile. It was a mischievous smile, like she knew something they didn’t. “No problem,” she said.</p><p>Lance took Keith’s hand and they started walking in the direction that the woman had pointed them. They weren’t in a hurry and wanted to take in the sights of the city, so they strolled at a leisurely pace. They walked alongside the canals and passed many cafés and little shops. Occasionally, Lance would stop to look in the window of a shop and tell Keith he wanted to visit there before leaving.</p><p>They walked around the corner and Keith saw the familiar sign of a Starbucks. But Lance made no move to go there.</p><p>“Can’t we just get coffee at Starbucks?” Keith asked. Why walk all the way to what was probably another ten minutes away when Starbucks coffee will do the trick?</p><p>“I wanna go where the locals go. They know what’s the best coffee in the city. I didn’t travel all the way to Europe just to go to Starbucks again. Just like how I refuse to go to McDonald’s or anything like that,” Lance said firmly.</p><p>Keith shrugged. “Alright,” he said and he let himself be tugged along by Lance.</p><p>After about ten minutes, they arrived at the street the woman told them about. Only what they saw there surprised them. The shop had a big weed symbol on the window. They stood in front of the shop and the smell of weed washed over them when someone walked through the door.</p><p>“This isn’t a coffee shop,” Lance said, confused.</p><p>They checked the street again to make sure they were in the right place, but it was definitely the street the woman mentioned. The name of the shop was also the one the woman mentioned, it even had ‘coffee shop’ in it.</p><p>Lance smirked. “Wanna get high together?”</p><p>“Sure,” Keith said.</p><p>A little while later, they were sitting in a park somewhere in Amsterdam, each a joint in their hand, coffee from a place that actually sells it, and a bag of snacks from a supermarket that was tiny.</p><p>Lance was giggling uncontrollably and Keith giggled with him, just a little less uncontrollably. They were leaning heavily on each other, completely relaxed. Keith felt great. He looked at Lance, who was taking another drag. Before Lance could blow out the smoke, Keith grabbed his face and kissed him, the smoke going into his mouth instead.</p><p>“You’re pretty,” Keith said.</p><p>Lance giggled some more. “Thanks,” he said between giggles. “You’re prettier.” He pressed his lips to Keith’s again.</p><p>Keith mentally thanked the woman for sending them to the wrong place.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Single Dads</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith was sitting on a bench at the edge of the playground. His daughter, Meredith, was playing with someone. He knew she wouldn’t do anything rash, she was a responsible kid, so he wasn’t really paying attention. He was scrolling through Reddit on his phone instead.</p><p>He only noticed when someone was sitting down next to him that someone had approached him. A guy, presumable another father, had sat down.</p><p>“Hey,” the guy said. “These moms giving you looks too?”</p><p>“Yeah, I’ve learned to just ignore them,” Keith said.</p><p>The guy introduced himself as Lance. He looked about the same age as Keith. Most of the adults there were about the same age, early to mid-thirties. Man, he was getting old.</p><p>“Like, is it so hard to believe that a father would care for his child and take them to the playground? It wouldn’t be the first time a mom asked me to leave and then I have to explain to her that I’m here with my child, just like her,” Lance said.</p><p>“I have that too. And sometimes they don’t even believe me when I say I’m here with my daughter because she looks nothing like me.”</p><p>“Did she get her looks from her mother?” Lance asked.</p><p>“I wouldn’t know. I adopted her and I’ve never met her birth parents,” Keith explained.</p><p>“<em>I</em>? Not <em>we</em>?”</p><p>“I’m a single parent.”</p><p>“Yeah, me too. Her mother and I split up a couple of years ago. But we co-parent, so she still has a mother.”</p><p>“People kept saying that it’s hard to raise a child on your own and I shouldn’t do it, but I adopted her anyway, and it’s still the best decision I ever made. People also said that she should have a mother figure in her life otherwise she’ll have issues later on, which is an even stupider argument. Children can be perfectly fine with <em>one</em> parent.”</p><p>Lance held up his hands. “I agree. I just meant that I’m glad she didn’t <em>lose</em> her mother. That’s different from not having a mother in the first place.”</p><p>They looked at the children playing at the playground.</p><p>“So, which one is yours?” Lance asked.</p><p>Keith pointed at her. “Meredith is over there, playing with your daughter.”</p><p>“How did you know that’s my daughter? Her name is Olivia, by the way.”</p><p>“She’s the only one with darker skin, just like you,” Keith explained.</p><p>“True. The rest of the parents are all white suburban moms, everything I’m not,” Lance said. He laughed at his own comment and it was kind of cute.</p><p>They looked at their daughters for a few minutes.</p><p>“Looks like Olivia is doing most of the talking,” Lance said.</p><p>“That doesn’t surprise me. Meredith is a quiet kid.”</p><p>“Oh, it doesn’t surprise me either, Olivia <em>loves</em> to talk. She gets that from me. Sometimes my friends tell me to shut up,” Lance said with a smile.</p><p>“I don’t mind if you talk,” Keith said.</p><p>“So you won’t mind me asking you a question?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Is there a reason you decided to adopt Meredith alone, and not wait a few more years for a partner to have a child with?”</p><p>Keith chuckled. “Waiting wouldn’t have helped me have a child, I’m super gay.”</p><p>The corner of Lance’s mouth lifted slightly and Keith got the feeling he was hoping for that answer.</p><p>“Cool. I’m bi,” Lance said. “Have you had straight people tell you that your sexuality will corrupt your child and turn them gay?”</p><p>“Unfortunately. In the adoption process, I just didn’t bring it up so they wouldn’t reject me for it.”</p><p>“Smart.”</p><p>Their conversation was interrupted by a loud “Papa!”</p><p>Lance looked immediately and Keith followed. Olivia was running over, Meredith trailing behind. She was shy because there was a stranger sitting next to her father.</p><p>“Papa, I made a new friend!” Olivia shouted upon arrival. She put her hands on Lance’s knees and bounced up and down.</p><p>“Oh yeah? Why don’t you introduce me to her?” Lance said, equally enthusiastic.</p><p>Meredith arrived and gestured that she wanted to be picked up. Keith picked her up and placed her on his lap. She hid her face in Keith’s chest.</p><p>“This is Meredith and we played bakery together!” Olivia said loudly.</p><p>Lance looked over at Meredith, who was still hiding. “Hi Meredith, I’m Lance, Olivia’s papa,” he said, voice significantly quieter.</p><p>Keith appreciated that Lance toned down his enthusiasm to put Meredith at ease. And it worked. She turned her head to look at Lance.</p><p>“Go ahead, say something,” Keith encouraged, but Meredith stayed silent. “Wanna say it together?”</p><p>Meredith nodded.</p><p>“Hi Lance, nice to meet you,” Keith said, voice pitched a little higher.</p><p>“Hi Lance, nice to meet you,” Meredith mumbled.</p><p>“Nice to meet you too, Meredith,” Lance said, smiling warmly.</p><p>“And who are you?” Olivia asked, looking at Keith.</p><p>“I’m Keith, I’m Meredith’s dad,” Keith said.</p><p>“Meredith said she doesn’t have a mama because you like boys.” Straight to the point, just like her father.</p><p>“That’s right.”</p><p>“But how can she not have a mama? Everyone has a mama. Papa always tells me that I was born because he and mama loved each other very much.”</p><p>“Meredith was also born that way, but her birth parents couldn’t care for her, so now I’m taking care of her,” Keith explained.</p><p>“But you like boys?”</p><p>“He likes boys in the same way that I like boys and girls,” Lance said.</p><p>Understanding dawned on her. “Oh, you like boys like a mom and a dad love each other.”</p><p>“Exactly. Only in my case, it would be a <em>dad</em> and a dad.” Keith said.</p><p>Olivia deemed the subject closed as she jumped straight into a completely different topic. “Papa, can Meredith come over and play? Then we can play bakery for real.” She was back to bouncing on her feet.</p><p>“Of course she can. But did you ask her if she wants that?” Lance asked.</p><p>Olivia looked at Meredith. “Do you want to come over and play bakery? Papa always gives me real food when I play bakery with friends.”</p><p>Meredith nodded.</p><p>Lance turned to Keith. “Why don’t we exchange phone numbers so we can set a date for the girls?” he said.</p><p>“Yeah.” Keith unlocked his phone and handed it to Lance.</p><p>Lance typed in his phone number. Only, once he had done that, he continued typing. A moment later, a ding came from his pocket.</p><p>“Did you just send yourself a text message on <em>my</em> phone?”</p><p>“Sure did,” Lance said, smiling. “And while we set a date for the kids, maybe we can also set a <em>date</em> for us.”</p><p>Keith smiled. “Yes, I’d like that.”</p>
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<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Childhood Friends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith was hanging out at Lance’s house. They were playing video games in Lance’s room, sitting on his bed together. Keith wasn’t very good at video games, so Lance beat him every time. But Keith didn’t mind, he was just happy he got to spend time with his best friend.</p><p>“Do you ever think about what it would be like to kiss a girl?” Lance said out of the blue.</p><p>“No,” Keith said.</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>“I don’t <em>want</em> to kiss a girl,” Keith answered.</p><p>“Why not?” Lance asked again.</p><p>“I don’t see the appeal.” Keith has never understood all these teenage boys dating and kissing girls. He’s been taught that one day, he will fall in love with a girl and he will marry her and have children with her, but he doesn’t want that. He doesn’t think girls are all that great, no matter how much everyone around him thinks they are.</p><p>He’d much rather spend the rest of his life with Lance. He got a flutter in his stomach every time Lance smiled at him and his skin tingled every time Lance touched him. That’s more pleasant than a girl has ever made him feel. He didn’t understand why everyone wouldn’t just spend their time with their best friend.</p><p>But Lance, apparently, did not see it this way. “How can you not see the appeal of kissing girls. I can’t wait until I have my first kiss,” he said.</p><p>Keith just shrugged. “Girls are fine, I guess, but they’re nothing special.”</p><p>Lance shook his head. “I don’t understand you at all. We’ll be going to high school after the summer, girls are gonna wanna kiss you, what are you gonna do then?”</p><p>“Say no?” Keith said.</p><p>“Whatever, your loss.”</p><p>“You don’t even know what it’s like.”</p><p>“But if everyone’s doing it, it’s gotta be good, right?” Lance paused. “I worry about it sometimes.”</p><p>“About what?” Keith asked.</p><p>“That I won’t be good at kissing and the girl won’t like me anymore.”</p><p>“Well, the only way to get good at something is to practice.”</p><p>“Yeah. Also, will we be the only ones who haven’t kissed anyone when we get to high school? You’ve seen the movies, everyone is kissing all the time. I don’t want to be the loser who hasn’t even had his first kiss yet.” Lance looked genuinely worried and Keith didn’t like it.</p><p>“If you worry so much about it, you should kiss someone before the end of summer.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Lance said.</p><p>They stayed silent for the next couple of minutes, the only sound filling the room that of the video game.</p><p>“Wait a second,” Lance said and he paused the game. “What if we practiced on each other?”</p><p>Keith’s brain short-circuited.</p><p>“We get to practice and get better at it without fear of being judged, and we get to have our first kiss before high school. Two birds with one stone.”</p><p>“Uhh,” Keith said.</p><p>“It’s perfect.” Lance put his controller down and bounced on the bed in anticipation. “What do you think?”</p><p>Keith had yet to form a coherent thought. Kiss Lance? Is that something best friends did? Though he wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea. It sounded a lot more appealing than kissing a girl. And if he was honest, he had on occasion wondered what it would be like to kiss Lance.</p><p>Keith took too long to react and Lance deflated.</p><p>“Nevermind, it was a stupid idea,” Lance said.</p><p>“No!” Keith said quickly. He cleared his throat. “I mean, it’s not a stupid idea. We could kiss. Best friends can do that, right?”</p><p>Lance perked right up. “Yes, of course. I mean, why would you <em>not</em> want your best friend to get better at something?” he said. He scooted closer to Keith.</p><p>They sat there, staring at each other for a long moment. Keith wasn’t really sure what to do. Did Lance expect him to move first? Or should he wait for Lance to make the first move?</p><p>“Okay, here we go,” Lance said and he began to lean in.</p><p>Keith took that as his cue to start moving as well. Their lips met halfway. Lance had his eyes closed, so Keith decided to close his as well. His heart was hammering so loudly he was sure Lance could hear it. They pressed their lips together for a solid eight seconds before Lance pulled back, too soon in Keith’s opinion.</p><p>Keith opened his eyes and reached up to touch his lips. They tingled from the kiss and it was a pleasant feeling.</p><p>“That was…” Lance said.</p><p>“Nice?” Keith supplied.</p><p>“I think you’re supposed to do something when kissing.”</p><p>“Oh, sorry,” Keith said, though he wasn’t sure what he did wrong. The kiss was good in his opinion.</p><p>“No worries, we can just look up how to kiss and try again.” Lance pulled out his phone.</p><p>Lance was typing away on his phone, but Keith was still stuck on the <em>try again</em> part. Logically, he had known that practicing meant doing it more than once, he just didn’t think that far ahead and thought about the implications of that. He would get to kiss Lance again.</p><p>He was shaken out of his thoughts when Lance started talking.</p><p>“I found an article on wikiHow on how to kiss,” he said.</p><p>He read the article out loud and Keith tried to retain as much information as possible, but it was difficult when his mind was going <em>kiss Lance</em> over and over again.</p><p>Lance finished reading the article and put his phone away. “Wanna try again?” he asked.</p><p>“Yeah,” Keith said. His heart picked up pace again.</p><p>Lance leaned in and this time, he put his hand at the back of Keith’s neck to pull him closer. The article said to use your hands, after all, but Keith wasn’t sure what to do with them. Their lips met once again and Keith closed his eyes. Lance’s lips pressed softly against his. Lance started moving a little, like the article said. He captured Keith’s bottom lip between his.</p><p>After ten seconds of kissing, Keith felt something wet against his lips. Lance must be trying to introduce tongue into the kiss. Keith parted his lips a little and felt Lance’s tongue slip inside. His tongue swiped along Keith’s bottom lip before meeting Keith’s tongue.</p><p>Keith remembered suddenly that his hands were supposed to be holding Lance. He slowly lifted them and placed them somewhere on Lance’s sides. He gently pulled Lance closer.</p><p>Their tongues tangled together tentatively. Lance shuffled even closer, so close he was practically in Keith’s lap, but Keith didn’t mind. He lost himself in the kiss and let himself be swept away by Lance and his mouth.</p><p>After a few minutes of kissing, Lance slowly pulled away, and Keith almost whimpered at the loss of contact. They didn’t let each other go, though, their hands stayed firmly where they were on each other’s bodies, their faces inches apart.</p><p>Keith opened his eyes just in time to Lance’s flutter open. They were both slightly dazed and breathing a little harder.</p><p>Lance was the first to speak up again. “That was good,” he said softly. “I liked that.”</p><p>“Yeah, me too,” Keith said.</p><p>Lance pulled away fully, his hands releasing Keith and scooting back. Keith retracted his hands as well.</p><p>“So from now on, whenever we hang out, we can kiss a little and before we know it we’ll be pros at it,” Lance said, his trademark energy back.</p><p>Keith was still trying to shake the daze. “Yeah,” was all he managed.</p><p>So maybe he could see the appeal of kissing someone after all because he could definitely get used to this.</p>
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<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Sugar Daddy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Today was supposed to be spiderverse, but I don't know enough about that, so have a sugar daddy AU instead.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It only took three words to make Lance’s face light up like a Christmas tree.</p><p>“Wanna go shopping?”</p><p>“Yes!” was Lance’s immediate response, as always. He jumped off the couch and practically ran upstairs, presumably to put on an outfit that was stylish yet comfortable to walk around in for several hours. Not to mention having to change out of it many times.</p><p>About fifteen minutes later, he came back downstairs. Considering how much clothing he had, fifteen minutes wasn’t all that long. He was wearing booty shorts, Keith’s favorite clothing article because they showed off Lance’s long legs, a tank top that said ‘disaster bi’, and flashy sneakers.</p><p>“Are you ready to go?” Keith asked.</p><p>“Yes, let’s go,” Lance said enthusiastically.</p><p>Keith also got off the couch. He checked if he had his wallet, he would be the one paying, after all, and grabbed the keys to his Mercedes. They made their way into the garage and a few minutes later, they were on their way to Lance’s favorite mall.</p><p>Lance was practically vibrating with excitement in the passenger seat and Keith couldn’t help but smile. Keith loved to buy Lance things. Keith made more money than he knew what to do with, so what better way to spend it than to spoil his boyfriend?  And Lance loved being spoiled. That’s how they met. Keith was lonely, so he went on one of those sugar daddy websites and to find himself a sugar baby. Enter Lance. The agreement was that Keith would pay his rent and in exchange, they would go out to dinner once a week. Somewhere along the way, they fell in love.</p><p>It was a good thirty minutes to the mall, plenty of time for Lance to describe in detail what shops he was gonna visit and what he was hoping to find. Keith listened attentively.</p><p>When they arrived at the mall, Lance took Keith’s hand and practically skipped to the first store. It was a small boutique and one of Lance’s favorite stores. He perused the racks and picked out several articles of clothing. Keith trailed behind, being handed clothing item after clothing item. When he had about ten items, Lance decided it was time to try them on.</p><p>The first item Lance walked out of the fitting room with was a pair of black booty shorts with laces down the sides. “What do you think?” he asked.</p><p>Keith didn’t have to look for long. “They look great on you, you should get them.”</p><p>Lance looked at himself in the mirror. “You really think so?”</p><p>“You know how much I love you in booty shorts.”</p><p>“They <em>do </em>look pretty cute on me,” Lance said.</p><p>“Adorable,” Keith said.</p><p>“Okay, I’ll get them.” Lance disappeared back into the fitting room.</p><p>When he came out again, he was wearing a pair of denim skinny jeans with embroidered flowers. He made some movements to test the stretchiness, giving Keith full view of his ass.</p><p>“They make your ass look great,” Keith said. He reached out and cupped said ass.</p><p>Lance yelped and swatted his hand away. “We’re in public,” he hissed.</p><p>“Relax, no one is here.”</p><p>“When we get home, you can touch my ass all you want, but right now I wanna focus on shopping, not get frisky with you in the fitting room,” Lance reprimanded.</p><p>“Sorry,” Keith said, but his smile betrayed that he wasn’t sorry at all.</p><p>A few hours and half a dozen stores later, their arms were full of shopping bags and Keith’s bank account was almost a thousand dollars lighter. Lance looked over the moon with his new clothes. And Keith loved to see Lance so happy.</p><p>As soon as they were in their home again, Keith pulled Lance close and cupped his ass.</p><p>Lance chuckled.</p><p>“What? You said I could,” Keith said.</p><p>“That’s true, but I didn’t mean it literally.”</p><p>“Don’t tell me you don’t like it. You normally love it when I worship your ass.”</p><p>“I do, but we also have a reservation and I need to get ready.”</p><p>Keith reluctantly let go of Lance and his beautiful ass. He knew Lance took his sweet time getting ready for a date.</p><p>While they no longer had an official sugar daddy arrangement, their weekly dinners had stayed. So Lance made his way upstairs to get ready for that, while Keith stayed downstairs for the majority of that time, only needing like five minutes to get changed.</p><p>When Lance came downstairs again, he was wearing dark wash skinny jeans, a white dress shirt with silver sequins across the shoulders and upper arms, and a different pair of slightly less flashy sneakers. The white shirt contrasted nicely with his dark skin. Keith had changed into black jeans and a burgundy dress shirt with black boots.</p><p>They were in Keith’s Mercedes again, this time on their way to one of their favorite restaurants. It wasn’t cheap, but Keith would spare no expense when it came to his boyfriend.</p><p>They arrived at the restaurant and were welcomed by the hostess who knew them by name by now. They’ve been coming here for years, after all. She led them to their table and handed them the menu.</p><p>“Remember when we first came here?” Lance asked.</p><p>“How could I forget?” Keith said. This was the restaurant where they met for the first time after coming to an agreement about their sugar daddy arrangement.</p><p>“I was still a broke college student and you were touch-starved and lonely. And now look at us. None of those things are true anymore.” Lance smiled at him and took his hand over the table.</p><p>Keith smiled back and said the other three words that Lance liked to hear. “I love you.”</p><p>“I love you too.”</p>
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<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Camp Counselors</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance clapped his hands twice. “Alright, kids, once everyone is done with breakfast, we’re going to do archery.”</p><p>“Will Keith be doing archery with us?” Melissa asked.</p><p>“Yes, he will.”</p><p>A chorus of <em>ooh’s</em> and giggles went across the table.</p><p>“Lance gets to see his crush again,” Cody teased and the whole table giggled some more.</p><p>“Why do you like him so much?” Emma asked.</p><p>“Where do I even start?” Lance said.</p><p>“Do you think he’s handsome?” Sophie asked.</p><p>“Of course. And he’s kind, and honest, and strong, and caring,” Lance said with exaggerated admiration in his voice. Not that he didn’t admire Keith, he was just laying it on thick for the children.</p><p>“Is he dreamy?” Aaron asked.</p><p>“Extremely.”</p><p>Everyone giggled again. They’ve had this conversation a dozen times by now, but the children loved to hear about Lance’s supposed crush on Keith, so they brought it up again and again.</p><p>“Do you dream about him?” Phineas asked.</p><p>“Of course he does. Who doesn’t dream about their crush?” Emma said before Lance could answer.</p><p>“But, <em>shh</em>, don’t tell him,” Lance said with a finger to his lips. “It’ll be our little secret.”</p><p>This made several of the children look very pleased. They loved being in on Lance’s secret.</p><p>A few minutes later, everyone was done with breakfast and they made their way to the archery range. Keith was already there.</p><p>“There he is,” Emma whispered to Lance.</p><p>“I know, I can hardly contain myself,” Lance whispered back.</p><p>Emma grinned widely. She sat down on the ground with the other children.</p><p>Lance stood next to Keith as he went over the technique again. Some of the children were giving him meaningful looks and poorly concealed smiles. Keith managed to not react to any of this, despite how obvious they were being.</p><p>After Keith was done recapping how it worked, the first half of the children were allowed to start shooting. Keith walked between them, giving them pointers and correcting their form. Lance waited with the other half of the children.</p><p>When it was time for the second half of the children, there was a lane free, since Lance had an odd number of children under his care.</p><p>“Lance, wanna shoot a few arrows?” Keith asked.</p><p>Lance, of course, was not gonna say no to that. He liked archery and was surprisingly good for someone who had only done it for the first time at the beginning of the summer. He took a bow and some arrows and walked over to the lane.</p><p>He nocked an arrow and drew it back. His arms were a little too low. He knew this, after all, he’d been doing archery for over two months now. It was on purpose.</p><p>Keith took the bait, as always. “Your stance is wrong.” He came up behind Lance and stepped close to his back, lifting Lance’s arms with his hands. It was completely unnecessary, he could just tell Lance to lift his arms, but Lance liked this way better and the children always got a kick out of it.</p><p>Lance felt the heat radiate from Keith’s chest and warmth filled his belly. He had to resist the urge to lean back into Keith’s arms. Most of the children were trying or failing to conceal their giggles. Lance let a smile on his face.</p><p>Keith dropped his hands but didn’t step back. Lance loosed the arrow and it almost hit the center of the target.</p><p>“Very good,” Keith said. “You’re so difficult to teach, I always have to correct your form.”</p><p>Lance looked at Keith and saw that he was fighting to hold back a smile. They looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment.</p><p>Keith finally stepped back. “What are you all looking at? Those arrows aren’t gonna shoot themselves,” he said.</p><p>The children all quickly averted their eyes, though the smiles did not leave their faces.</p><p>After archery was over, it was time for crafts.</p><p>“You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up,” Lance said, trusting they would make their way to the crafting area in one piece.</p><p>The children once again giggled on their way out.</p><p>Once they were all out of sight and earshot, Lance turned to Keith.</p><p>Keith was smiling. “You’re not going to tell them, are you?”</p><p>“Nope. This is way too much fun. They think they’re in on my secret and they have something over me, but little do they know.” Lance kissed Keith softly.</p><p>Keith returned the kiss. He put his hands on Lance’s hips and gently pulled him closer until they were chest to chest. Lance sighed into the kiss and put his arms around Keith’s neck. He wished he could stay like this for the rest of the day.</p><p>Unfortunately, duty called, and he had to pull away too soon. He had children to look after. This is what most of their time together entailed this summer. Stolen minutes between activities. The most time they got to spend together was when one group had left and the next hadn’t arrived yet. It’s the one downside to working at a summer camp.</p><p>Lance stayed in Keith’s space for a moment longer. “I love you,” he whispered.</p><p>“I love you too,” Keith whispered back.</p><p>Then Lance stepped back and went after his group, preparing himself for the teasing he was undoubtedly gonna get.</p>
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<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Paranormal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith carried bags of groceries from his car to his front door. He entered the hallway and closed the door behind him. He felt the slight chill in the air half a second before Lance materialized in front of him.</p><p>“Boo!” Lance yelled.</p><p>Keith leveled him with an unimpressed stare. The last time Lance scared him was a long time ago.</p><p>“Nice to see you too,” Lance said.</p><p>“Will you ever stop trying to scare me?” Keith asked.</p><p>“Of course not. It’s my duty as a ghost to haunt the residents of my house.”</p><p>“It’s <em>my </em>house. I bought it years ago.”</p><p>“It’s <em>our</em> house. And you should consider yourself lucky. <em>You’re</em> not stuck here. If you ever decide to move, I’ll never see you again.” Lance’s tone was light, but Keith knew this was something he genuinely worried about.</p><p>“Well, I’m not moving any time soon, so you’re stuck with <em>me</em> too,” Keith said.</p><p>“Oh no, what a terrible fate. And I thought being dead was bad,” Lance gasped dramatically.</p><p>“Shut up, you love me.”</p><p>“That, I do,” Lance said with a smile.</p><p>“Can I get a welcome home kiss?” Keith asked.</p><p>Lance was slightly see-through, indicating that he couldn’t be touched. So Keith had to ask.</p><p>“No can do. I don’t have enough energy to make myself tangible at the moment. Our cuddling session took a lot out of me.”</p><p>“Okay.” Keith had learned not to dwell on it, or Lance might dwell on it and feel guilty about it. Sometimes they just didn’t get to touch, and that was fine.</p><p>He picked up the bags and walked around Lance to the kitchen. He could easily walk through him now that he was intangible, but he still made a point to act like he wasn’t. Partly because Keith just didn’t like the feeling of Lance passing through him, but mostly because it seemed disrespectful to walk through him. Like he wasn’t there.</p><p>Lance came after him and watched as Keith was putting the groceries away. His feet were level with the floor, but Keith knew he could pass through it or float in the air if he wanted to. It was his own choice to ‘stand’ on the floor.</p><p>It was almost time for dinner, so Keith didn’t put away the groceries he would need for his food. Then he started on dinner. The first thing he did is put on a pot of water to boil.</p><p>“What are you making?” Lance asked.</p><p>“Pasta with spinach and salmon.”</p><p>“Sounds good. If only I could eat.”</p><p>“What I wouldn’t give to not have to prepare food all the time,” Keith said in a deadpan tone.</p><p>“All you have to do is die and become a ghost,” Lance joked. It sounded dark, but they joked like this all the time. Keith suspected it’s how Lance coped with it. Because even after all these years, and Lance had been dead long before Keith moved in, he still struggled with it sometimes.</p><p>Keith started chopping an onion. They were both silent, but from the chill in the air, Keith knew Lance was still watching him. He liked to do that, watching him do mundane things. Sometimes he would reminisce about doing those things himself.</p><p>Suddenly, the chill was gone. It could mean two things. Either Lance had vanished or he had turned tangible. It was unlike Lance to just disappear without saying anything, so the second seemed more likely.</p><p>A tan hand came into his vision. Lance grabbed Keith’s chin and turned his head. Lance pressed a kiss to his lips. Keith reached out to touch him, but he was too late. Lance turned see-through again and his hand passed through him. Keith quickly retracted his hand and tried to shake the cold out of it.</p><p>While the chill of Lance’s presence was like a pleasant breeze on a warm day, the feeling of passing through him was a cold that went into your bones. It was deeply unpleasant, and it stayed much longer.</p><p>“Sorry,” they said at the same time for the same reason.</p><p>“There’s your welcome home kiss,” Lance said. “It’s all I can manage for now.”</p><p>“You don’t have to stay here if you want to recharge,” Keith said. The quickest way for Lance to recharge his energy was when he didn’t have to use energy to make himself visible.</p><p>“But I <em>want </em>to stay here. I <em>like</em> staying here with you. Where’s the fun in living with your boyfriend if you don’t get to spend most of your time together?”</p><p>“Sounds like codependency to me,” Keith said with a smirk.</p><p>“Whatever. Just get back to cooking and let me watch you in peace.”</p><p>“Sounds kinda creepy, but okay,” Keith continued teasing.</p><p>“You say that like you don’t regularly let me see you naked,” Lance shot back.</p><p>“Touché.” Keith turned back to his onion.</p><p>“Just hurry up and cook so we can watch the next episode of Doctor Who during dinner. I’ve been waiting for that all day.”</p><p>“And here I thought you wanted to spend time with <em>me</em>,” Keith said.</p><p>“That too. But we can do that at the same time. Too bad we won’t be able to cuddle anymore today.”</p><p>“It’s okay. I love you whether I can touch you or not.”</p><p>“I know you do, but cuddling would still be nice,” Lance said.</p><p>“There’s always tomorrow,” Keith offered in hopes Lance would feel better.</p><p>Lance smiled. “Yes, I’m looking forward to it.”</p>
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<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Bodyguard</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Second free day I turned into a bodyguard AU.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith walked after Prince Lance as they made their way to the dining room. He was vigilant, his eyes scanning every part of the hallways they walked through.</p><p>They arrived at the dining room and the Prince sat down for another dinner alone. That’s how it goes with royalty who have lots of duties and responsibilities. Not a lot of time for family dinners. Keith hadn’t been working for Prince Lance that long, but he knew how lonely he was.</p><p>The food was served, but the Prince didn’t start eating. He pushed his food around with his fork and looked dejectedly at his plate. Keith decided to show some initiative, something he knew the Prince appreciated.</p><p>“Are you alright, Your Highness?” he asked.</p><p>Prince Lance’s head snapped up and he quickly plastered a smile on his face that was clearly fake. “Yes, I’m fine.” After a few more seconds, he added, “why don’t you sit down? There’s no point in standing with so many empty seats here.”</p><p>Keith followed the request without hesitation, even if it was a bit of an odd one. He sat down in the chair next to the Prince.</p><p>Prince Lance held up his fork with some of his food on it. “Here, taste this,” he said.</p><p>That was an even odder request. “Uhh,” was all that Keith managed. He wasn’t really supposed to eat during his shift.</p><p>“You don’t want your Prince to get poisoned, do you?” Prince Lance asked.</p><p>“No, of course not,” Keith said quickly.</p><p>“Then taste this and tell me if it’s okay.”</p><p>Keith took the fork and put it in his mouth. The food was delicious, even if he had no idea what it was.</p><p>“So how is it?” Prince Lance asked.</p><p>“I think it’s okay,” Keith answered. It was more than okay, it was some of the best food Keith had ever tasted. As a servant to the royal family, he got good food, but it was meant to be nutritious, not to be tasteful.</p><p>“Do you like it? Be honest.”</p><p>“Yes, I do.”</p><p>The Prince turned to a servant that was waiting for orders in the corner of the room. “Isabella, get another plate of food for Keith,” he said. Prince Lance made it a point to address everyone by name, and he knew the names of pretty much every servant in the castle, even the ones that didn’t serve him directly. Keith knew the servants, including himself, appreciated it, it showed he saw them as humans rather than just servants.</p><p>“Yes, Your Highness,” Isabella said and she scurried off to the kitchen. If she thought the order was odd, she didn’t show it.</p><p>“I’m not supposed to eat during my shift,” Keith said. “I can wait until my shift is over.”</p><p>The Prince waved his hand. “Nonsense. Your shift doesn’t end for another six hours. There’s no need for you to get hungry during that time. Besides, wouldn’t you be able to protect me better if you had plenty of energy in your body?”</p><p>“I suppose. Thank you, Your Highness.”</p><p>“Don’t mention it,” the Prince said.</p><p>Keith expected the Prince to start eating, but he didn’t. It wasn’t until a few minutes later when Isabella returned with a plate of food that he picked up his fork again.</p><p>The plate was placed in front of Keith, along with a set of cutlery. He still had no idea what it was, but it smelt delicious and he knew from that one bite that it tasted even better.</p><p>“Tell me, Keith, have you ever had weblum before?” Prince Lance asked.</p><p>Weblum was a delicacy, only available to the richest people of the country. “No, I haven’t.”</p><p>“Well, now you have. What did you have growing up?”</p><p>Prince Lance often asked about the personal lives of his servants. He showed genuine interest when whoever he asked told him a story. The nobility and most of the royal family thought it was unbecoming for a Prince to fraternize with those so far beneath him. The servants loved it and thought it was nice that he didn’t think himself inherently superior just because he was born into royalty. But Keith knew the real reason he hung out with servants so often was to fight off the loneliness.</p><p>So Keith didn’t hesitate to tell him in great detail about the food he ate as a child. About his favorite meals his father made and the candy he often got from his neighbor in exchange for doing chores. The Prince listened and smiled warmly, a genuine one this time. Keith conveniently left out the part about how he spent most of his youth in an orphanage where the food was not great, and that was the least of his problems, because he didn’t want to see that smile go away. It was nice to see him smile like that at him.</p><p>Keith decided then that maybe his job as bodyguard wasn’t just to protect Prince Lance from bodily harm. Maybe it was also to protect him from emotional harm by being a friend to him.</p>
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